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Kourna is cornered
Tennis babe Anna Kournikova is to wed a hunky ice ace after a whirlwind courtship. Hockkey star Pavel Bure, 28, proposed during a romantic meal at a top restaurant. As thrilled diners looked on, he got down on one knee to lob the question and Anna, above, had no hesitationin saying "yes". The 18-year-old smasher's engagement to her fellow Russian will stun millions of besotted fans. Pavel, who plays for the Florida Panthers, handed Anna a pink rose as they smooched at the Forge restaurant in Miami Beach. Boss Shareef Malnik said: "Pavel called me and said 'Hey, I just popped the question - come over and celebrate'. "I had a champagne toast with them." Shareef added: "He is the nicest, most down to earth guy you'd ever want to meet and they're going to have beautiful babies. They'll be beautiful, strong, fast, perfect." Only last month blonde Anna was linked with Aussie tennis star Mark Philippousis after the pair were spotted kissing in a car. She insisted they were "just good friends". But admireres will be amazed at how Pavel, known as the Russian Rocket, has netted sport's sexiest pin-up. She even featured in her own daily Kourna Corner in The Sun during last summer's Wimbledon tournament. The world No.11 had a lengthy affair with another Russian ice hockey star, Dergei Federov. But Anna always denied wedding rumours.
Anna gets engaged
This is the look of love that shows Anna Kournikova is about to break the hearts of thousands of male admirers by getting married. The 18-year-old tennis beauty holds a single rose as she gazes into the eyes of ice hockey star Pavel Bure. The couple appeared totally besotted when they were photographed at a celebration dinner in Miami's Forge restaurant, constantly hugging and giggling together. The engagement was revealed by Forge owner Shareef Malnik. He said: "Yes, Pavela nd Anna got engaged at my restaurant. I was on my way to a party when Pavel called and said: 'Hey, I just popped the question, come over and celebrate.' I had a champagne toast with them and then we went together to the party." Anna, whose looks have earned her millions in sponsorship deals, has known 28-year-old Pavel for only four months. Last summer she was dating Sergei Federov, another Russian ice hockey player. He was with her at Wimbeldon where she sported a ring on her engagement finger, sparking rumours they were to wed. Anna and Pavel have been almost inseparable since she fell for Sergei's former team-mate. When she competes abroad, they keep in touch with dozens of phone calls each day. Pavel, who plays for the Florida Panthers, has moved into a 40th and 41st floor apartment in the Fort Lauderdale block where Anna lives. She is three storeys above him in a £2million penthouse with a roof garden and swimming pool. The couple were first spotted flirting in a New York restaurant in November. Shareef added: "Pavel is just about the nicest, most down-to-earth guy you'd ever want to meet." But ominously, there has been no comment so far from Anna's formidable mother Alla, who lives with her daughter and keeps a very close on her. Last year Alla was adamant Anna had no intention of marriage.
Love Match for 2 Athletes
 Tennis pinup Anna Kournikova and hockey golden boy Pavel Bure are headed for the altar, it was reported yesterday. Bure, known to National Hockey League fans as the Russian Rocket, popped the question to 18-year-old Kournikova at a Miami restaurant over the weekend, Britain's Sun newspaper said. Tennis pinup Anna Kournikova and hockey golden boy Pavel Bure are headed for the altar, it was reported yesterday. Bure, known to National Hockey League fans as the Russian Rocket, popped the question to 18-year-old Kournikova at a Miami restaurant over the weekend, Britain's Sun newspaper said. Her answer was "da." The blond and beautiful tennis star was photographed with Bure holding a pink rose for her in his hands. Diners at The Forge restaurant said the cat-quick, high-scoring right-winger asked for his lady love's hand on bended knee. Shareef Malnik, owner of The Forge, said the romantic scene played out Friday night. "Yes, Pavel and Anna got engaged at my restaurant," Malnik said. "I was on my way to a party, and Pavel called and said, 'Hey, I just popped the question —come on over and celebrate.' They called me over for a champagne toast with them." "Let me tell you one thing," Malnik added. "They are going to have beautiful babies — beautiful, strong, fast, perfect." It was unclear if a wedding date has been set. Kournikova and the 28-year-old Florida Panthers star are neighbors in a trendy south Miami Beach apartment building and have been inseparable recently. They met four months ago. The couple apparently became smitten with each other after Kournikova's romance with Bure's teammate Sergei Fedorov fizzled. Although rumors linked Kournikova to tennis player Mark Philippoussis during the Australian Open after she was seen in the center court stands cheering the home favorite, they insisted they were just friends. Bure, the son of a three-time Olympic swimmer, won Most Valuable Player honors during the NHL All-Star game Feb. 7. The couple, both known for their sex appeal as well as their athletic feats, have appeared on magazine covers, are sought after for personal appearances and have garnered millions in sponsorship deals. Both have dozens of Internet Web sites devoted to them, ranging from fan clubs to memorabilia shopping spots to sites that feature photos of Kournikova in tennis togs, bathing suits and evening gowns.
Bure, Kournikova set to wed Pavel Bure's much-publicized romance with Anna Kournikova apparently has escalated into wedding plans. The Panthers superstar didn't dispute Monday a published report that he asked Kournikova to marry him Friday night while the two were eating at Bure's favorite Miami Beach restaurant, the Forge. Asked if the report was true, he said, "Well, maybe, yeah. We don't deny it." Pressed for more information, he said, "We'll know the details when she gets back in town next month." Kournikova is scheduled to play in an upcoming tournament in Phoenix. Bure, 28, and Kournikova, 18, are two of the most famous Russian athletes performing on the world stage. Bure leads the NHL in goals, while Kournikova is a ranked tennis player who, so far at least, has gotten much more notice for her looks than her game. The two started dating this season, whereupon Bure purchased a condo in the same South Beach building where Kournikova had been living. Kournikova has since been a frequent visitor to Panthers games.
Confirmed, maybe: Bure, Kournikova engaged Panthers right wing Pavel Bure confirmed -- in a roundabout way -- that he's engaged to professional tennis player Anna Kournikova, as The Herald's People column reported Monday. "Well, maybe, yeah, but we don't deny it," Bure said. "We'll tell details when she gets back in town in the middle of March." Bure said Kournikova was in Phoenix now. They were both at Miami Beach's The Forge, Bure's favorite South Florida restaurant, Friday night until about 10:30 p.m. Owner Shareef Malnik told The Herald that Bure, 28, proposed to Kournikova, 18, at his restaurant that night. Bure and Kournikova each owns a condominium at Portofino, a South Beach high rise. In fact, Kournikova bought hers two years ago with Detroit center Sergei Fedorov, a former Bure teammate in junior. Kournikova and Fedorov were an item for almost three years and she was seen at Red Wings games up until Thanksgiving. Fedorov was unavailable for comment.
Bure brothers have new goal Moscow-born sharpshooters Pavel and Valeri Bure seem to be taking aim on becoming the highest single-season brotherly scoring act in NHL history. With Valeri picking uphis 31st goal for the Calgary Flames Saturday night, the tandem now has 73 between them - leaving them 15 short of Bobby and Dennis Hull's mark of 88 set in 1968-69. "It's possible (the Bures) could end up getting 100 in a season," says NHL coach Jacques Demers, who was Valeri's first coach in Montreal. "I think Valeri is just starting to come into his own. Pavel can get 60, and Valeri can get 40. It's very possible." Demers wasn't speaking about this season, but even that can't be ruled out. With 20 games left, it doesn't seem likely Pavel will get 18 more goals. But he has a history of torrid streaks, such as earlier this season when he netted 12 goals in eight games. With 19 games left, Valeri is on a pace for 40. Pavel is in a three-game goal drought, although the Florida Panthers aren't concerned because he had scoring chances in each. "He gets four or five great chances a game," general manager Bryam Murray says. Since joining the Panthers last season, he has 55 goals in 65 games and has created a buzz around the NHL every time he steps on the ice. Having played inVancouver at the start of his career, Pavel has been only a legend in his own time zone. Now playing most of his games in the East, Pavel seems almost to have been re-discovered by the hockey world. "Pavel is an amazing player," says St.Louis Blues GM Larry Pleau. "Of allplaces that (teams) spend money, that's pretty well spent. He's a ball of entertainment. He brings people to their feet." Given his electrifying speed, Pavel is given licenseto float up high in the defensive zone. But Murray says the Panthers have discovered that reduces the amount of offensive pressure an opponent can direct at them. "It backs the other team's other defenceman off the blue line because they have to keep an eye on them," Murray says. "They can't pinch. He gives us a chance to get the puck out of trouble." Murray said Pavel plays that way more early in a game than late. His quickness and hands make him and effective poke-checker when the Panthers need to ply defensive. "But he is a gambler," Murray says. "He's always looking to go." Valeri gets less fanfare but almost as much respect as an offensive threat. He has played a major role in keeping Calgary competitive. At 25, he's a superior player than when Demers coached him his first two seasons inMontreal. "This is an outgoing, smiling kid, and there is nothing phony about him," demers says. "It took him a while to get where he is, but he has many good years ahead of him."
Buffalo 5, Florida 2 SUNRISE, FLORIDA (TICKER) -- With rumors of romance in the air, the Buffalo Sabres quickly took the heart out of the Florida Panthers. On a night when Florida sniper Pavel Bure reportedly confirmed his engagement to sexy tennis star Anna Kournikova, Buffalo scored the first four goals and cruised to a 5-2 triumph. According to Panthers' beat reporters, Bure proposed to the 18-year-old Kournikova over the weekend. No wedding date has been announced and Bure, 28, plans to make a formal announcement when Kournikova returns to Florida later this month. The Sabres apparently were not caught up in the gossip as they scored four times in a 15-minute span bridging the first and second periods. Stu Barnes scored twice around goals by Alexei Zhitnik and Erik Rasmussen. Pavel Bure scored Panther's first goal and was a minus one on seven shots on goal.
Report: Bure pops question to Kournikova in Miami SUNRISE, Fla. -- NHL star Pavel Bure said he popped the question to tennis player Anna Kournikova -- and she accepted. The Russian Rocket said he proposed to Kournikova, also Russian, on Friday night at Miami Beach restaurant, The Forge. He did not announce a wedding date. Kournikova, 18, a favorite of Britain's tabloids, was photographed with Bure holding a pink rose. "We'll tell details when she gets back in town in the middle of March," Bure said before the Florida Panthers' game against Buffalo on Monday night. The top-selling British Sun tabloid said Bure, also a Russian, proposed on bended knee as stunned diners looked on.
 "Yes, Pavel and Anna got engaged at my restaurant," The Forge's owner Shareef Malnik was quoted as saying. Russian newspapers first paired Kournikova off with the 28-year-old hockey player, a former teammate of her former boyfriend Sergei Fedorov, in December. But in January, the media rumor mill linked her with Mark Philippoussis during the Australian Open after she was seen in the centre court stands cheering on the Australian home favorite. Both insisted they were just friends. Bure, known as the Russian Rocket, plays for the Florida Panthers and won the title of most valuable player during the 50th National Hockey League All-Star game on Feb. 7. The Mirror said Kournikova, whose looks have earned her millions in sponsorship deals, had known him just four months. Bure and Kournikova are neighbors in an apartment building in trendy south Miami Beach.
Kozlov looms large for Bure PAVEL BURE certainly wanted to be helpful, wanted to give his questioner a decent comment on the likelihood he'll face Dominik Hasek tonight as the latest stumbling block on his path to a 50-goal season. But no go. "I really don't think about who is in the other net," Bure said yesterday while considering tonight's test against Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres. "I don't really like to think about it before the game, and during the game I usually have two or three guys on me so I'm lucky to get a shot." To Bure, the enemy goalie isn't a person, just a living, moving, masked obstacle in his relentless pursuit of goals. Whether it's Carolina's Arturs Irbe two nights ago, Hasek tonight or Curtis Joseph of the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, the Russian Rocket apparently doesn't waste time on scouting reports or specific strategies. Similarly, it really hasn't mattered much to Bure over the course of his NHL career the identity of the players with which he has been aligned on forward units. He's never been part of a notable duo - although he apparently got engaged to tennis star Anna Kournikova on the weekend - let alone an established trio. The names and faces have always changed despite the fact he's only played on two teams, Vancouver and Florida. That has changed to a significant degree this season, for almost without exception Bure has skated with 24-year-old Viktor Kozlov as his centreman. While Bure has sizzled consistently and leads all NHLers with 42 goals, Kozlov has not surprisingly enjoyed a breakthrough season seven years after being the sixth player taken in the '93 NHL entry draft. As of yesterday he was tied with Doug Weight for third place in league assists with 42, managed another three helpers in his first all-star appearance in Toronto this month and is well on his way to the best season of his young career. But how much of this is Kozlov, and how much is Bure? Moreover, it seems clear that the Achilles heel of this very good Florida team is the real possibility that Kozlov will struggle in his very first exposure to the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, which may in turn neutralize Bure. "I don't know what to expect," said Kozlov grimly yesterday. "I've watched the playoffs on TV. I know every shift is important, every moment is important." The Panthers have played mediocre hockey since the break, and most recently a lack in production from the Kozlov-Bure combination has been part of the problem. In the club's last four games, Kozlov has a goal but no assists, while Bure has one goal. Not surprisingly, Florida has lost three of the four. Kozlov has always been viewed as an enigma, a little too indifferent or lazy for some tastes. His consistent production this season suggests he is maturing as a pro. "Maybe I'm getting older, getting smarter," he smiled. "I know it's important how I prepare for games because in this league every team in the league can beat every other team. When I played in Russia I played for Dynamo and we just beat everybody, so sometimes you didn't have to play all that hard. Here, if you don't play hard, it doesn't work." Head coach Terry Murray hasn't been able to find a consistent fit for the left wing spot beside Kozlov and Bure, which also looms as a problem. Still, it's Kozlov and Bure that will have to fuel any Panther playoff drive. The focus will be on Bure, but the heavy pressure will undoubtedly be on Kozlov.
Thus far, Florida Panthers superstar Pavel Bure has been as good at deflecting questions about his love match with 18-year-old tennis star Anna Kournikova as he is at slapping the puck into the net. But the couple's days of denial may have come to an end after this past weekend. According to Shareef Malnik, owner of The Forge restaurant in Miami Beach, Bure asked for Kournikova's hand in marriage on Friday night. "Yes, Pavel and Anna got engaged at my restaurant," Malnik said Sunday. "Pavel called and said, 'Hey, I just popped the question - come on over and celebrate.' They called me over for a champagne toast with them." Kournikova and the 28-year-old Bure - whom Malnik describes as "just about the nicest, most down-to-earth guy you'd ever want to meet" - are known for their sex appeal almost as much as for their athletic ability. "Let me tell you one thing," Malnik says. "They're going to have beautiful babies - beautiful, strong, fast, perfect. Very nice gene pool there."
Carolina's Ron Francis slipped past two defenders along the right boards before threading a pass in front of the net. Pavel Bure was the only Panther near O'Neill, who flipped a point-blank shot past goaltender Mike Vernon's glove for his team-best seventh game-winner. The overtime loss, had Pavel at minus one for the night, and only three shots on goal. Pavel's pointless streak is now at three games.
CBC created a great 7 minute video profiling Pavel Bure for the All-Star game. It is now available on the Internet.
 Alan Abel profiles Pavel Bure
Pavel in 'Sports Illustrated'
The February 28 edition of 'Sports Illustrated' has a four page article title "Boris Good Enough?"
"Boris Good Enough?"You bet he was! Players from the former Soviet Union, who 10 seasons ago arrived in the NHL to loathing and mistrust, have made the league bigger, better and brassier.They hated him. He understood why the men in the other uniforms, the ones who slashed him and elbowed him and finished their checks head-high, acted the way they did, but during the dreary 1989-90 season, Slava Fetisov thought that if he were to have a heart attack in the dressing room, some of his New Jersey Devils teammates would be as likely to call for takeout as they would an ambulance. Fetisov, a man who skated backward all his life but never retreated, would slink home after practice, awash in self-pity and self-doubt, wondering why he even bothered trying to fit in. Fetisov was the most celebrated defenseman since Bobby Orr. He had won Olympic gold medals, world championships, a Canada Cup. He was 31 years old and finally free to play anywhere he wanted. He also was weary. He'd assumed the battle to control his own destiny was over when, in May 1989, the Soviet hockey federation told him he could leave the U.S.S.R. to play in North America. Fetisov, one of eight Soviet players to arrive in the NHL 10 seasons ago, never imagined he'd have to fight through the loathing and mistrust of NHL players scared red. "A lot of guys, mostly older players and a few fringe guys who felt their jobs were in jeopardy, were really anti-Russian," says Brendan Shanahan, a teammate of Fetisov's with the Devils that season and later with the Detroit Red Wings. "It wasn't overt. When a teammate makes a mistake, you want to cover for him, support him, but you had the sense that some guys wanted to see Slava fail. You had to be a real jerk not to like him, because he was a real gentleman and so gregarious, but think about the context. Slava came over in 1989. [The Soviet invasion of] Afghanistan was not all that long before. Growing up in Canada and the UNited States, we'd been taught that the Russians were the enemy. The 1980 U.S.-U.S.S.R. Olympic hockey game was more than a game, right? In the 1987 world juniors the Canadians had a bench clearing brawl with the Soviets. We couldn't understand them; they couldn't understand us. Now they were coming here and taking our jobs in our league? "That's why I have so much respect for Slava. If he'd fought every guy who thre an extra elbow at him that year, he would've been fighting every shift. For Russians, he was the Jackie Robinson of hockey. He opened doors. He took all the cheap shots and played with a smile on his face." The past is dead. Today the treatment Fetisov, now a New Jeraey assistant coach, received from teammates when he arrived sems as if it occurred sometime before the Paleozoic Era. There are about 65 players from the former Soviet Union - Russians, Latvians, Ukranians, Belarussians, Lithuanians and a Kazakh - in the NHL. They occupy about 10% of the league's roster slots. They include the most thrilling performer (Florida Panthers right wing Pavel Bure), the most venerable (Detroit's 39-year-old center, Igor Larionov), the most daring (Colrado Avalanche defensemannSandis Ozolinsh) and the most pugnacious (Pitssburgh Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis). Every team in the NHL except the Phoenix Coyotes and the St.Louis Blues has at least one player from the former U.S.S.R. In the last decade ex-Soviets have been named MVP (Sergei Federov of the RedWings, in 1994) and won Stanley Cups. They've been captains. They've been stars, role players, goons. They dump the puck and chase it. They have contract disputes. They have been accepted. "The stereotypes have been broke," Penguins coach Herb Brooks says. "It might have been easier to put a man on the moon than to change NHL thinking, but it happened." On feb.6 in Toronto the NHL played and All-Star Game that for the third straight year matched North American stars against Worl stars. Among the 25 World AA-Stars were five Russians and Ozolinsh, a Latvian. The revolution is over. Hockey won. The NHL game in 2000 is a rich stew: a dash of crisscrossing, a pinch of digging along the boards and a sprinkling of dump-and-chase. The ingredients have been simmering for more thana quarter of a century, and if the former Soviet players were the last to follow American collegians and Swedes and Finns and Czechs and Slovaks into the pot, they were also the impetus for the arrival of those other Europeans. The Soviets lit the fire in the 1972 Summit Series against Canada, when the supposedly outclassed U.S.S.R. stunningly beat the Canadians in three out of eight games. "They were the trigger," says Toronto Maple Leafs president Ken Dryden, a goalie in that series. "In the years after that series, we were measuring ourselves against them." If the NHL sems a duller place than it did 10 years ago, don't blame the Russians. The successors to Fetisov and Larionov - Bure, Federov, and Alexander Mogilny of the Vancouver Canucks - are bold spices in the NHL kitchen and have perhaps even forestalled the dead-puck era by a few years with their offensive gifts. "Federov, Bure, [Ottawa Senators holdout center Alexei] Yashin, [Chicago Blackhawks center Alex] Zhamnov - these guys have style," Larionov says. "Skating, stickhandling, vision, unpredictable moves. That's what the Russians gave this game." They also helped give the NHL enough talented players to expand from 21 teams in 1979-80 to the 30 that will skate next season. "At first Russians were cheap labor," says NHL vice president of hockey operations Mike Murphy. "You could pay them $200,000 a year, and they'd be delighted" - hardly shocking consdiering that Larionov made $200 a month before the Soviet hockey federation freed him to come to North America. The price of today's Russians has jumped considerably, because they have come to see that their services in a talent starved-league are invaluable. "There's a direct correlation between expansion and the influx of Russians," New York Rangers general manager Neil Smith says. "You could field three teams with those players if you wanted to." The question was, Who wanted to? In the early 1990's the Mogilny-led second wave was arriving, and the paranoia that New Jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello contends was being perpetuated by owners and general managers had begun to subside. Still, many NHL higher-ups were reluctant to entrust a Stanley Cup quest to players who had been reared on Olympic medals. "The guy I remember most from that era was [Winnipeg Jets general manager] Mike Smith," says Neil Smith, who's no relation. "Basically he told everybody to get bent. His answer to 'How many Russians can you have?' was 'Twenty, if they're your best players.'" Mike Smith is now the Blackhawks' manager of hockey operations. Even today not everyone embraces his point of view, but Smith is no longer viewed as the raving iconoclast who had the Winnipeg media grumbling about the R factor. "They thought the arrival of the Russians was an anti-Canadian conspiracy," Smith says, "and that I was the lead conspirator." Smith told reporters that they'd better learn to spell the new players' names because soon every team would have four or five players from the former Soviet Union. "Scouts were the least resistant to Russians," Mike Smith says. "The coaches, there's a still a bit of reluctance. I think it starightened out pretty quickly on the player level. The transition is going to be smooth if a guy can help you on the ice, if he's a good guy, if you can have a beer with him." If the situation of the players from the former Soviet Union seems no more remarkable than that of many immigrants, imagine 65 Americans going to play in the Russian league - new language, new culture, bigger international rinks. "I don't think people can understand what we went through: the language, the way people do things, the structure of an organization," Federov says. "I don't want to sound arrogant about it. We don't even talk about it ourselves. Everybody has tough times adjusting from one society to another, and it was our choice to be here." There were milestones on the way to acceptance: the 1992 draft, in which seven former Soviet players were selected among the 17 picks; Mogilny's 76-goal season with the Buffalo Sabres in '93 and his second-team All-Star selection that year; Federov's winning the Hart and the Selke trophies the following season; the Rangers' Cup victory in '94 over Bure-led Vancouver in which New York featured Alexander Karpotsev, Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Nemchinov and Sergei Zubov, it's regular-season scoring leader, and Russian names were inscribed for the first time on the NHL's ultimate calling card. "In our business whoever wins the Cup is accepted as the benchmark," Neil Smith says. "Zubov was a significant part of it, Nemchinov was a role-playing soldier, Kovalev was an untapped talent, and Karpovtsev was a role-playing defenseman. Not only did they contribute, but they were obviously different players and different personalities. On one hand you had Nemchnov, who was almost military in presence, and you had Kovalev, who was Peter Pan. We proved you could win with Russians." However, even as Detroit stomped to an NHL-record 62 wins in 1995-96, whispers persisted that the Wings relied too heavily on Russians. The endorsement of the Russians bu the Lombardi-Auerbach-McGraw of his business, coach Scotty Bowman, who has pushed for the trades that brought Fetisov and Larionov to detroit and then played them as a unit with Federov, Slava Kozlov and Vladimir Konstantinov, was ignored. Bowman howled throughout the season that officiating was tilted against his Russian Five - NHL referees stoutly denied it - but Neil Smith insists Bowman was not indulging in his typical gamesmanship. "There is no doubt in my mind Russians were discriminated against by refs at the time," Smith says. "I really believe a guy whose name ended in ov had to absorb a lot more slashes to get a penalty called than a guy named Smith." Not until the Red Wings won the Cup in 1997 - capatain Steve Yzerman first passed it to Fetisov, a gesture that oozed symbolism - did the Russians' unofficial probation end. "To see Igor and Slava, two guys who grew up in the Soviet system, embrace the Cup, that was the moment," Shanahan says. "It was over." "Konstantinov was the key," Dryden says of the perpenturally nasty defenseman whose career ended six days after the Wings won the Cup when he was injured in a limo accident. "While Russians always have played a tough style relative to European hockey, it took somebody like Konstantinov to symolize what the Russians had always been, and to get them over the hump in terms of the last piece of the reputation." In 2000 the battleground for players from the former Soviet Union has shifted. Russian players have been involved in some of the most high-profile contract wars - Federov's 1997-98 stalemate with the Red Wings, Bure's '98 demand that the Canucks trade him, Yashin's refusal to honor his contract with the Senators this season - that have lent credence to a popular theory that Russians are high-maintenance. Yashin's walkout, his third contract dispute in six years with Ottawa, has been ripe fodder for anyone wanting to refight the Cold War. "High-maintenance? For the most part, no," says Detroit general manager Ken Holland says, "but they're very strong-willed. For them to be even here - especially Larionov and Fetisov, who fought the system, and the guys who defected - they had to be. Federov left Russia never knowing if he would see his family again. When it comes to negotiations., they have a strong sense of their worth. It's also part of the reason they've been successful as players." The final barrier isn't in front of the Russians but above them, a red ceiling that has kept them - and other Europeans - frombecoming NHL head coaches and general managers. But that obstacle will fall too. Write it down, like a Mike Smith quote: In three years, 10 years, whenever, a Russian will be a head coach. When that happens, he'll stare into a camera after a loss and moan that his players didn't stick to the system, tha they wre outworked along the wall, that they ran into a hot goalie. When he spews the cliches, he'll do it in an accent so gentle the NHL will have trouble remembering what all the fuss was about.
Great picture for you
Panthers 4, Hurricanes 2 Ray Whitney scored with 9:41 left as the Florida Panthers snapped their season-high three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over Carolina. NHL goal leader Pavel Bure was held without a point for a second straight game for only the fourth time this season. Pavel registered only one shot on goal, and was a minus one once again. Pavel Bure, a breakaway ace, had been stoned by Irbe early in the second period on his specialty. During a four-on-four at 7:00 of the third, he showed why imitating a defenseman isn't his specialty. Carolina's Paul Coffey turned Bure into a pylon before slicing to the net and scoring to tie the game.
Pavel an uncle, again The Bure brothers have a new winger. Lev Bure is just 7 lbs., 10 oz. and only three days old, but he's the first of the next generation. Lev, named after Flame forward Val's grandfather, was born in Los Angeles Sunday night, within minutes of dad's frantic arrival from Calgary after the Flames series sweep of Edmonton. He's child No. 2 for Val and wife Candace, a former actress in the television series Full House. "I guess you could say we have our own Full House now," said Val, as he arrived back last night from L.A. with one-year-old daughter Natasha, mom Tanya and grandmother Zina in tow. Mom and Lev are expected to stay in Los Angeles, where the couple resides in the off-season, until the Flames visit there later this month. "Everyone is healthy and doing great," said Val, who rejoins his team for tonight's important conference battle with Los Angeles. But dad doesn't know if Lev will be a hockey player. "I don't know if I want him to be a hockey player -- it's a tough sport," laughed Val. "Maybe he'll be a golf pro -- something that is played in good weather and you can't get hurt. "As long as he is healthy he'll play some sport. "We're both very happy -- we have a couple of dogs, a couple of kids. Lots of family around -- it's just awesome."
The All-Star video Pavel was shown in a short story video on ABC prior to the All-Star game. Here are a couple of photos from that video.
Washington 3, Florida 2 (ot)
 The Washington Capitals won on a power play in overtime over the struggling Florida Panthers. Washington pulled within three points of the Panthers in the Southeast Division. The Panthers, who have lost three straight, earned a point for the regulation tie. The Capitals were able to contain Pavel Bure, who entered the game with an NHL-high 42 goals. Bure was held to three shots, all in the first two periods, and a subsequent minus one for the game.
Caging Bure is key for Caps The Florida Panthers, deemed "uncatchable" when they had a 14-point lead over the Washington Capitals five weeks ago, come into the MCI Center tonight to play the Caps for the fourth time overall this season. With the Panthers' lead pared to four points, there will be a lot more on the line for this game than in the previous meetings. With 23 games left in the regular season, this game could be as telling as any for either team. Washington will throw its wedge defense against Pavel Bure, who has scored nearly one-quarter of Florida's 181 goals this season, and try to spoil the anticipated return of Florida goalie Trevor Kidd, out since Dec. 13 with a shoulder injury. "I honestly didn't believe that was possible," Caps coach Ron Wilson said about getting this close to the Panthers after calling them "uncatchable" after his team's 3-1 win over Florida on Jan. 19. "I don't want to be saying now, 'Hey, we've got six weeks to go, let's catch New Jersey.' You have to be reasonable when you set your sights. It just so happens they've slumped a little bit and we've got ourselves in decent position, but four points is still a lot to make up against a good team, and they have a good team." Bure has a league-leading 42 goals and probably will become the first player since 1997-98 to score 50. Ray Whitney and Mark Parrish both have more than 20 goals, and Viktor Kozlov has 42 assists and 56 points as Bure's center, showing why Florida has scored 37 more goals than it has allowed. Keeping Bure within respectable limits keeps the Panthers within sight. "First of all, puck possession down low," Wilson said when asked how to slow the Russian Rocket. "We're a good cycling team, and and if he doesn't have the puck, you've done as much to control him as anything. Being aware of where he is on the ice is very important, and whoever is out there must understand you cannot allow him in the middle. If he's going to damage us, it's [going to have to be] from the outside. "You really have to be diligent, 100 percent committed to knowing where he is and responding in kind when he is on the ice. Because as soon as that transition occurs, it's like when the horn sounds on a submarine and you dive - everybody has to respond to the drill properly." Recently some teams have tried to assign one particular individual to shadow Bure, taking the ice whenever the right wing does. Wilson saw that as too much of a disruption, breaking up lines and probably causing too-many-men penalties. "If he scores one and that's the only goal they score, you probably get a point if not win the game," the coach said. "Because he scores doesn't mean you lose the game. We have to make sure we limit his damage and ensure others don't damage us." The Caps, meanwhile, will be trying to extend a team-record nine-game winning streak and a 12-game (11-0-1) undefeated run at home, one shy of tying the team mark. This comes as the club tries to break its first winless streak (0-1-1) since Christmas, when it lost in Vancouver and tied Chicago. The Caps are 5-3-2 in their last 10, Florida is 5-5-0. "You always worry about [slowing down], but we've played all those games on the road," Wilson said, referring to seven of the Caps' last eight games. "You look at our road record over the last two months, and it's pretty darn good (7-4-3). The games we've lost have been the second halves of back-to-backs, with Pittsburgh the exception. If we're fresh I'm confident we can beat teams, and if we're a little pooped, I'm glad to get out of [Raleigh, N.C., on Monday] with a point." Washington now gets to play two in a row at home. That hasn't happened since January, the month that put the Caps back in contention. Sens beat Panthers for 3rd straight time- - ESPN.comMonday, February 21, 2000 The Ottawa Senators took advantage of one struggling team to gain ground on another, as Ottawa beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 Monday. The Panthers are 5-7 in their last 12 games, while Washington trails Florida by four points in the Southeast Division. "There's a lot of sawdust falling out of the sticks out there," Florida coach Terry Murray said. "They're really pressing." Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 42nd goal for Florida when he swatted the puck under Tugnutt's arm. Bure has 10 points in his last 11 games. But after Bure's score, Florida gave up three unanswered goals -- and another point in the standings. Pavel had only the goal as his point for the night amd was a minus one on five shots on goal So much for privacyby Jose Lambient - - Sun-SentinelMonday, February 21, 2000 It's official. Panthers superstar Pavel Bure and tennis sweetheart Anna Kournikova are an item. And for two people who supposedly don't like to flaunt their private lives for all to see, they made it crystal clear for nearly 700 people at Thursday's Panthers black-tie charity shindig at the Boca Resort. When the shapely Anna, 18, wasn't lovingly resting her head on the dreamy-eyed Pavel's shoulder, the Russian Rocket, 28, softly stroked her blond hair. And when fans were kept at bay by two beefy bodyguards, they sweetly kissed and whispered sweet nothings into each other's ears -- until they spotted a camera not too far away. They separated faster than a Bure breakaway -- until the camera was out of sight. "They're just friends," said team spokesman Mike Hanson, jokingly. Anna's dress, however, was anything but a joke. Most males in the joint couldn't help but stare. The ankle-length strapless number had a slit on its right side that revealed a whole lot of leg when she climbed on stage to help auction a Bure-hosted dinner for six at The Forge in Miami Beach. The bidding slowed at $8,000, already 10 times the value of the prize. But then, Anna and the dress showed up to announce that she, too, would host the dinner. The bidding shot up to $12,500. The winner: Dennis Crowley of Boca. No regrets, no Anna questions, pleaseby Dan Le Batard - - Miami HeraldMonday, February 21, 2000 1) Most annoying thing in the world? "Jealousy." 2) You ever dream about hockey? "All the time. I dream about scoring goals, but there's this one dream I've had since I was 13 or 14. I had it today. The game has started, but I can't finish getting dressed. Can't put on my skates, can't tighten them, can't finish dressing. I'm always very, very late." 3) You're stuck on an island for the rest of your life. One CD, one book and one woman? "[Laughter] The CD would be all Russian music. The book would have to be a philosopher because how many times can you read the same story? I should at least be learning every day. And the woman, I know which one I'd choose, but I'm not going to tell you [laughter]." 4) You're dating Anna Kournikova, aren't you? It's Anna Kournikova, isn't it? "[Laughter] Next question." 5) You can change one thing in the world. Go ahead. "Hard question. People wouldn't get sick. Health is the most important thing you have, other than people you love. And you can't enjoy anything else in life without health." 6) Your house is on fire. Three possessions you're going back to get? "If my friends and family are safe, I don't care what's burning. I'll get new pictures, new trophies. I don't really have a house, though. I have places. That's all I have. I have a few in Moscow and two here, but home is where my family is going to be when I get married and have kids. It's a place I'm going to build, a place I have in my mind." 7) Something people would be shocked to know about you? "There's nothing left. Everyone already knows everything about me -- plus the 90 percent that never happened. The 90 percent that has been written about me but isn't true, everyone knows that, too." 8) Last time you cried about something stupid? "I can't remember the last time I cried about anything. Not since I was little." 9) Win the Stanley Cup this year but shave three years off your life? "If I live to be 73, yes, trade the years. Seventy years living is enough. I wouldn't want to know how many years I had left, though, even if someone could tell me, because life isn't interesting or fun when everything can be predicted." 10) The devil says your eternal soul rests on converting this breakaway. Three goaltenders you'd rather not see? "They're all hard to score against. I had two or three breakaways against Atlanta, and got stopped by this rookie who had just been called up. Then another time I get a hat trick off Patrick Roy, a Hall of Famer, the best goalie of all-time." 11) Celebrity you were must awestruck meeting? "The president of Belarus. The president is a big deal where I'm from, really big, bigger than just a president. He wanted to play hockey with me last December. So I went, and afterward he said, 'What are you doing later?' I said, 'Nothing.' So we went to a sauna and concert. Then he said, 'What are you doing tomorrow?' I said, 'Nothing.' So we went skiing and to a sauna. I was in his home, in his car. After a few hours, you forget he is the president." 12) Most romantic thing you've ever done? "[Laughter] What do you want me to say? Walk under the moon? The girls know that stuff. I'm not good at that stuff. What do girls like? Candles? When I propose, I'll think of something romantic to do." 13) Philosophy to live by? "Enjoy life as long as you don't hurt other people." 14) Something you're insecure about? "My health. I've spent so much time in hospitals -- bruised kidneys, broken anything -- that I don't want to ever go back." 15) Does one love with one's brain or one's heart? "The heart is not involved. It's all brain, all brain. There's this story of a boy and girl, 15 years old, who loved each other but their parents wouldn't let them be together. So they said they wanted to die, so their souls could be together. Then they got tricked and locked in an apartment together for a week with no food, no bathrooms, no nothing. After one week, being embarrassed in front of each other and everything, they hated each other. That's not the heart. That's the brain." 16) Being a superstar in Russia, did you ever lose touch with what it felt like to be normal? "I always try to be normal. It's really important to me. It's hard to be normal sometimes, when people are always treating you like you are not normal, but it's like those days I spent with the president. He was normal. The job you have doesn't matter, doesn't make you better than anyone. We're all the same. I try to treat people the way they treat me." 17) You have to win the championship this year. First three players you choose? "We'll put [Dominik] Hasek in the net. I need a defenseman. Let's go with [Sandis] Ozolinsh. There are so many guys on the same level -- [Paul] Kariya, [Jaromir] Jagr, [Brett] Hull, [Eric] Lindros. Let's go with [Wayne] Gretzky because he is retired and because he said he retired because of me. Let's bring him back." 18) Biggest regret? "I don't really have regrets. Not big ones. Maybe in the future I'll have some, but I'm very happy right now. Everything I've done in my life has led me to right here, so why should I regret anything I've done?" 19) I get the impression you might not want to reveal too much about yourself with some of these answers. No tears, no regrets, no most-feared goalie. Why so private? "It's not about being private. It's that I don't have a favorite anything. That's not who I am. I like to try different things, all the time. If you ask me my favorite meal, and I say hot dog, it isn't true because watch how much I'll hate hot dogs if I them every day for a week. I did a psychology test like this on the Internet the other day, and I didn't believe the score because humans are doing the scoring and humans don't know anything about the brain. I read somewhere that we use only 10 percent of our brain, that we might do the same thing in a situation 99 times but will do something different the 100th time and that scientists have no idea why. For me, there's no one answer to a lot of questions." 20) Word association:
Breakaway -- "Goal." Fire on iceby Marcus Carmouche - - CBS SportsLineSunday, February 20, 2000 The best player in the NHL graced the ice Saturday night at the National Car Rental Center. As for whether he wore the visiting black or home white sweater, the debate is about as close a call as the actual game itself -- a 2-1 Pittsburgh victory over Southeast Division-leading Florida. Pavel Bure vs. Jaromir Jagr -- billed as the battle of the torch carriers. Two of the game's marquee names on center stage and center ice. The frontrunners for the Hart Trophy for league MVP and the Maurice Richard Trophy for top goal-scorer. But unlike the final score, there was no definitive winner in this individual showdown between 28-year-old All-Stars to be hockey's golden boy. Bure (41) and Jagr (37) came into the game as the top goal-scorers in the league. Neither put the puck in the net. Instead, it was Martin Straka's third period goal that provided the margin for the Penguins. Jagr (48), the game's top assist man, did not figure in any of the Pens' scores. Neither superstar had much of an impact at first glance at the box score. Yet, the meeting was met with as much anticipation as a mid-May playoff series. On a Saturday night in South Florida, where beaches and nightlife beckoned, hockey was king -- if only for 60 minutes. The Panthers enjoyed their first sellout of the season as 19,250 flocked to watch two of hockey's premier players. "It was two of the game's best facing off," Pens coach Herb Brooks said. "It was a surprise (that neither Bure nor Jagr scored) when you look at the talent of those two guys." The fans might not have been treated to the offensive onslaught these two have become accustomed to producing, but the excitement generated by their mere presence was worth the price of admission. "I just hope they (the fans) enjoyed the hockey they saw tonight," said Jagr, surrounded by fans clamoring for a post-game autograph. No doubt the fans were treated, even if the stat sheet failed to live up to expectations. Every time hometown favorite Bure laid his stick to the puck, fans lunged forward from the backs of their chairs in anticipation. And though he was on visiting ice, the same could be said for Jagr. Both took four shots in the second period, and based on crowd reaction, it was as if the game hung in the balance with each attempt.
Maybe not to Bure, but to a league trailing the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball in marketing, the value of showcasing its top talent was immeasurable. "It's definitely good for the sport," Florida's Paul Laus said. "They're two great players. They generated excitement out there. You don't get that type of meeting very often." This was the third encounter between Pittsburgh and Florida this season, and the second between Bure and Jagr. Jagr didn't play in the first meeting here. In the game at Pittsburgh, he scored, but was upstaged by Bure's two goals and assist. The two will meet again in mid-March, when the hype perhaps will be even greater. The debate was not settled in this matchup as to who is the NHL's best. Then again, who says the NHL has to have one true dominant superstar?
Fifteen-hundred seats were sold in 30 minutes Saturday morning. The 500 cheapest seats were gone in two minutes. What the season's first sellout crowd anticipated Saturday night was a thriller, a matchup between the game's two most exciting players: the Panthers' Pavel Bure vs. Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr. Fans expected the Panthers, one of the NHL's best home teams with 21 wins, to walk all over the Penguins, one of the NHL's worst road teams with 18 losses. What they got was the opposite. Bure and Jagr were held scoreless, and the Panthers were outplayed during a 2-1 loss in front of 19,250 at National Car Rental Center.
In a battle of the NHL's top two goal-scorers, neither Pavel Bure nor Jaromir Jagr had to show up for work. Martin Straka scored the game-winner 29 seconds into the third period against his former team, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a key 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. Pittsburgh goalie, Aubin, made 21 saves for only his second road win this season. "It feels pretty great," he said. "The last game, I stopped (Bure), too. I like playing against him. For now, it's just lucky. It is a surprise when you look at the talent of those two guys," Pittsburgh coach Herb Brooks said. "To keep Bure, (Viktor) Kozlov and (Ray) Whitney off the board, we've got to play pretty tenacious, and I think we did. Pavel had 5 shots on goal and was a minus one for the game. The All-Star line of Bure, Kozlov, and Whitney registered only one point and had a minus-2 rating with nine shots. "It was a pretty even game," Bure said. "We didn't have that lucky bounce. I think I had like three chances in a row, the puck just didn't go in. Somebody asked me yesterday if it was going to be Jagr against Bure. I said it would be Penguins against Panthers, and I was right." As for Jagr versus Bure, neither had a point. Bure had five shots on goal, Jagr had six. Bure had the better scoring chances, including three in a row near the end of the second period.
Let's make this much clear: Jaromir Jagr and Pavel Bure might be one-two on the NHL's goal-scoring list, but they have no interest in racing to find out who's one and who's two. "I don't really care about it," Jagr said, shrugging. "I don't know how to explain it, but it doesn't matter to me. There are a lot more important things in life than winning the goal-scoring title." "If it comes, it comes," Bure told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. "It's more important to make the playoffs. If I win the title, I win." Nor does either of them plan to contribute much hype to their showdown tonight, when the Penguins meet the Florida Panthers at National Car Rental Center. "It's a big game for our us," Jagr said. "But it's because of our team. We need every point we can get." "Jagr is a great player," Bure said. "But like I've said all along, it doesn't matter who I play against." To many, however, the matchup is relevant, to the extent that it might prove to be the NHL's best man-on-man rivalry since Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky were duking it out for the unofficial crown of best player in the game. At the moment, Jagr and Bure are the Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa of hockey. And in a league starved for high-profile stars and better television ratings, that matters. "They're entirely different players, but they're the two most dominating players in world right now," said Barry Melrose, ESPN analyst and former Los Angeles Kings coach. "Jagr is intimidating because of his great size and reach, while Pavel is that way because of his speed. Jagr is maybe a little more of a complete player, though." Jagr is the NHL's reigning MVP and its top point-producer with 37 goals and 48 assists. But the buzz of the league the past two months has been Florida's Russian Rocket. Bure, the only man ahead of Jagr in goals, has 41 and appears to be on unstoppable rush toward claiming the Maurice Richard Trophy as the champion in that category. It's hardly something new for him. Bure, a two-time 60-goal man when he skated for the Vancouver Canucks, has terrorized opponents since the Panthers acquired him Jan. 17, 1999, with 54 goals in his first 59 games for Florida. And this season, he has made nearly all of them count. Of his 41 goals, 21 of them have put the Panthers ahead in a game and 10 of them have been game-winners. When he scores at least one goal, Florida is 23-4-2. When he gets two or more, the Panthers are 8-0. Yet he continues to insist he is no one-man team. "It's not me against them," Bure said. "I would score 50 goals in Vancouver and we would still lose eight or nine in a row and miss the playoffs. I don't believe one guy can change things." Maybe not, but many of the Panthers' opponents apparently believe stopping one guy can have quite an impact. Monday night, for example, the Montreal Canadiens employed three defensemen each time Bure's line hit the ice but couldn't keep him from scoring. Two nights later, the New York Rangers moved All-Star defenseman Brian Leetch to left wing and instructed him to follow Bure's every step, and all Bure did was net the winning goal and a team-high six shots. "If you stop Pavel, you've got a shot," Rangers Coach John Muckler said when explaining his strategy to reporters in Miami. "If he's not best player in league, then he's maybe tied with Jagr." Most hockey observers still lean heavily toward Jagr when debating the sport's top talent, but this much is beyond dispute: They have little in common. Bure is all about goals. He owns the most dynamic first step in the game, giving him an unrivaled ability to generate two or three breakaways a game. He frequently parks himself to the left of a goaltender and waits for rebounds, burying them with deadly precision. And he shoots the puck as hard and accurately as anyone in the world. Jagr is all about offense. He can control play in the attacking zone for longer stretches than anyone, using his big frame and powerful legs to shield the puck. He has learned from Lemieux how to read and anticipate plays, making him perhaps the game's most accomplished passer. And he releases his wrist shot with enough velocity that he has added long-range scoring to his arsenal in the past two seasons. "They're different, really," Panthers right winger Scott Mellanby said. "Jagr's more of a power forward. Pavel's more of a home-run hitter." "Some players grow up as passers. Some grow up as scorers," Penguins right winger Alexei Kovalev said. "But when you look at Jaromir, he's a totally different player. He scores goals and he makes passes. He can do it either way." That's how Jagr likes it, and it's precisely why he won't lose a wink of sleep if Bure finishes the year with more goals. "I want to play the best I can play," Jagr said. "Of course, I know if I score goals, it's going to be good for the team because we're going to have a better chance to win. That's the only reason I care about the goals. If you score 30 more or 30 less, it doesn't matter, as long as you win the games. That's all I care about."
Bure. Jagr. If you're an NHL defenseman, those are the worst four-letter words anyone can use. Trying to stop Florida's Pavel Bure or Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr is like attempting to lasso wild horses with a rubber band. Both Bure and Jagr make life miserable for opponents. "They're the two best offensive players in the world right now," said ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose, a former NHL defenseman. "Dominating is the word for both of them. They're both unstoppable." South Florida hockey fans will get a rare opportunity to see the two on the ice at the same time when the Panthers (33-20-4) play the Penguins (25-26-6) at 7:30 tonight at National Car Rental Center. "The two of them alone are worth the price of admission," said Bure's teammate, Paul Laus, a former defenseman who went head-to-head with Jagr and Bure many times when Bure was with the Vancouver Canucks. "They're two of the most exciting players in the world. It should be unbelievable to watch." For generations, hockey was thought of as a Canadian sport, but these two Eastern European imports have supplied the game with a different face and a different image. "They both have really strong legs, which makes them very special," said Panthers assistant coach Slavomir Lener, who helped coach Jagr and the Czech Republic to the gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics. "Their thighs are huge in proportion to the rest of the body. They handle the puck well, and their acceleration is good in the first two or three strides. And they're always in great shape."
The best player in professional hockey is at National Car Rental Center tonight. The question is whether it's the guy wearing the home or road sweater. Florida's Pavel Bure (league-leading 41 goals) and Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr (league-leading 85 points) will share the marquee in a one-night-only South Florida engagement. The Penguins, who were without Jagr during their first trip here Nov. 20, will not return to Sunrise during the regular season. Florida and Pittsburgh could face each other in the opening round of the playoffs. Barring a collapse, the Panthers should lock up either the second or third seed in the Eastern Conference. Whether the Penguins, seeded seventh entering Friday's games, even make the playoffs is speculative. Through Thursday, five points separated Pittsburgh from 11th-seeded Carolina. Regardless of the Penguins' postseason prospects, tonight's Bure-Jagr meeting should be cherished. They are the NHL's most dynamic offensive players, and both are amid MVP-caliber seasons. Jagr is four behind Bure in goals scored and 10 shy in plus/minus rating. A native of the Czech Republic, Jagr does possess healthy cushions in points (19) and assists (23). Neither Bure nor Jagr gets cheated much. They average about five shots a game. "They're both the type of player that can change the outcome of a game in a matter of one shift," Panthers defenseman Bret Hedican said. "They both have a knack for finding the nets and can score goals from anywhere on the ice. Those are the similarities." For all they have in common, Bure and Jagr are equally different, most notably in stature. At 6-2 and 228 pounds, Jagr is four inches taller and about 40 pounds heavier. "Jagr is more of a big, strong guy who likes to handle the puck a lot and beat guys one-on-one coming out of the corner," Hedican said. "Pavel is more of a guy that's lurking, using his acceleration and the way he dances." Added coach Terry Murray: "Jagr is a puck-possession player. He uses his size very well to protect the puck in one-on-one and one-on-two situations. Pavel is more of a player that plays a give-and-go game. He jumps into the openings, looking for someone to give him the puck at the right time." The Panthers don't alter their scheme much to account for Jagr. They don't change their practice routine. For obvious reasons, Murray would not reveal whether he would assign a player to shadow Jagr the way the Rangers' Brian Leetch followed Bure around Wednesday night. Murray does emphasize Jagr in team meetings. He shows a video that amounts to a Jagr highlight reel and points out tendencies. One Florida defenseman in particular knows just about all of Jagr's preferred moves. Jaroslav Spacek and Jagr were teammates on the Czech Republic's Gold Medal-winning 1996 Olympic team. The two engaged in a fair bit of chatter during the last meeting in Pittsburgh, which the Panthers won, 5-2, on Dec. 18. "Sometimes we make some jokes, but not too bad," said Spacek, who tallied two more points than Jagr in that game. "He's the best player in the NHL right now and it's tough to play against him. You watch him close and you know what he tends to do, but you're thinking one thing and he can make two or three things." The Panthers were seven minutes from keeping Jagr scoreless during the December game. Jagr did not find the net until the Panthers had staked a 4-1 lead. It was his fifth goal in his last six games against Florida. "You're not going to eliminate all of his chances," Murray said. "He's too great a player for that. You try to limit the number of quality chances that he's going to get, then you have to have some great stuff from your goaltender."
Dinner with Florida Panthers star Pavel Bure and his friend Anna Kournikova went for $12,500 at the team's charity auction. Originally the prize was to be dinner with Bure only. When the bidding reached $6,500, Kournikova hopped onto the stage alongside Bure, and the price nearly doubled. The Panthers didn't identify the highest bidder. Bure and Kournikova, a star on the women's tennis tour, are neighbors in an apartment building in trendy south Miami Beach. The dinner for eight, including the two celebrities, will take place on South Beach at Bure's favorite restaurant.
Dinner with Pavel Bure is expensive enough. Add his friend, tennis star Anna Kournikova, to the mix, and the cost really skyrockets. A dinner for six with Bure and Kournikova was sold for $12,500 at the Panthers' charity auction following Thursday night's annual "Waiter, There's a Puck in my Soup" dinner at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. The dinner prize originally was supposed to include Bure only and came close to being sold for $6,500. Then, when Kournikova hopped onto the stage and stood alongside her South Beach apartment-building neighbor, the price of the dinner nearly doubled. The dinner will take place at Bure's favorite South Beach restaurant, the Forge. The item that sold for the most money was purchased by a Panthers player, defenseman Robert Svehla. Svehla wrote a check for $24,000 (24 is his uniform number) for a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle, custom designed with Panthers-color pinstripes and logos on the gas tank and back fender. Svehla, who occasionally used to ride a Harley to practice, said he sold his for $18,000 six months ago and began riding motorcycles three years ago. The retail on the one he bought Thursday was $17,000. "I loved driving it, and I'll love driving this one," Svehla said. "I don't go too fast because it's a little scary." "He's crazy to spend that much money," said buddy Jaroslav Spacek. "It's good I was at a different table." A beaded Panthers' purse designed by Marti Huizenga, owner H. Wayne Huizenga's wife, sold for $12,500. An All-Star Game package of game-worn jerseys and game-used sticks from Bure, Viktor Kozlov and Ray Whitney went for $7,750. Dinner with Whitney and captain Scott Mellanby at Gigi Romano in Boca Raton was sold for $5,500. A blimp ride for two with defenseman Todd Simpson and a "swim with the dolphins" at Miami Seaquarium with center Rob Niedermayer each were sold for $2,000, while one of the top autographed items sold was a Kozlov jersey for $1,200. The Panthers raised more than $140,000 to benefit Children's Harbor and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The Panthers' players, their wives and girlfriends, coaches, broadcasters, management and training staff, acted as waiters and served 600 guests dinner prior to the auction.
It's the ultimate compliment by an opponent, one paid to Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky, among others, over the years. The Rangers paid it to Panthers right wing Pavel Bure on Wednesday night. And everybody who pays to see an NHL game, especially one involving the Panthers, should be happy it failed miserably. The Rangers took their best player, defenseman Brian Leetch, and assigned him to shadow the Panthers' best player, Bure. Using one exciting player to take the fun out of the league's most exciting player isn't endearing to a fan paying $40 per ticket or a league that needs all the thrills it can muster. But, copycatting is big in the NHL these days. Had it worked, most of the teams the Panthers play would now assign a Bure escort of such quality, sacrificing their own offenses. "I think it went very well, and it was very effective," Rangers coach John Muckler said. Bure had six shots, one goal, one breakaway, on which Mike Richter made a fantastic glove save, and he narrowly missed the net on a few others. Leetch was late hopping onto the ice when Bure scored his goal, but overall, the Rangers were lucky Bure didn't roll up his fourth hat trick of the season. Meanwhile, the most important Ranger to contain was wrapped up in a defensive assignment. There were times Bure and Leetch idled at center ice while the puck was in the Rangers' zone, looking like two guys waiting to take their turns in a practice drill. "I was trying to pull Leetch out of the zone and create more room for my teammates," Bure said. "Calgary played me the same way in the 1994 playoffs. It basically makes it a four-on-four game." Bure was nice enough to not point out he had three goals and five assists in that Vancouver-Calgary series. Somebody must have stolen Muckler's VCR or his tapes of recent Panthers games. Leetch did a heck of a job," Muckler said. "What we tried to do was to cut the ice in half in the neutral zone. It gave us an opportunity, by playing a defenseman there, to have three guys back, and Leetch was the right guy to play that position because of his hockey knowledge and the way he can skate."
The Florida Panthers right wing Pavel Bure is so good that teams have devised an all-out strategy to contain him, a sort-of National Hockey League version of basketball's box-and-one defense. But, in a league starved for just the sort of offensive genius that Bure provides nightly -- a league whose major innovation in the 1990's was the stifling neutral zone trap -- is such a strategy good for the game? Rangers Coach John Muckler will leave philosophical questions like that for others. Muckler was just trying to win a game here tonight. And so he had his best player, Brian Leetch, shadow Bure. But the strategy didn't work. Bure opened the scoring with his league-leading 41st goal as Leetch could not get back on the ice in time to stop him. And the Panthers, who also received goals from Ray Sheppard and Scott Mellanby, skated to a 3-0 victory past a thoroughly confused bunch of Rangers, who had never before practiced the scheme targeting Bure. Afterward, Muckler did not have second thoughts. "I thought it went very well and it was very effective," he said of his strategy. "You're going to see more of this from other teams. He dominates the game. The theory behind it is if you stop Bure, you have a chance to win." The loss was the Rangers' third in their last five games (a 1-3-1 slide) as they struggle to hold on to one of the last Eastern Conference playoff spots. With 23 games remaining in their season, the Rangers are 24-26-9. And even if they do qualify for the postseason, their reward could be a first-round matchup with Bure's Panthers. And that would be no reward at all. The Bure strategy, abandoned by Muckler only after the Rangers had fallen behind by three goals midway through the final period, meant they had Leetch, their best offensive defenseman, in a defensive mode just about every shift he took tonight.It also meant the Rangers had three defensemen and two forwards out every time Bure was on the ice. And Bure, who averaged 24 minutes 35 seconds of ice time coming in (the most of any forward in the league this season), skated a game-high 25 minutes 19 seconds tonight. No wonder the Rangers were shut out. Poor Leetch looked bewildered as he skated around in circles looking for the man he was supposed to mark. Leetch logged 23:47, second only on the team to Mathieu Schneider's 23:52. As for Bure? He just shrugged the extra attention off. "It was interesting, because Brian Leetch is one of the best defensemen in the league, so it was really hard to play against him," said Bure, the most valuable player of this season's All-Star Game, who has now scored goals in each of Florida's last four games. "That used to happen to me all the time when I was in Vancouver, and it's happening more and more." The twist, this time around, is that Bure is being shadowed by a defenseman. The Montreal Canadiens had used a similar scheme against the Panthers on Monday night, although not nearly to the same extent. Bure scored a first-period goal, then, too. But the Canadiens rallied at home for a 4-1 victory. Bure scored just 7:46 into the game, with Leetch on the bench as it turned out. Jan Hlavac could not change on the fly quickly enough to get Leetch out, and so Bure blasted a slap shot from the top edge of the right circle, off Schneider's stick and past Rangers goalie Mike Richter, beating him to the far side. As is his custom, Bure watched the replay of his goal on the big scoreboard that hangs over center ice. And when he was finished, a big smile spread across his face, like a mischievous little boy who knew he had just gotten away with something under his teacher's eyes. "You just have to be patient and wait for your chance," Bure said. "You can't get frustrated." Instead, Bure ended up frustrating the Rangers, as they played their left-wing lock on Bure only, with Leetch acting as the left wing. Muckler rotated his five other defensemen, juggled his offensive lines, and did everything he could think of on a drawing board to stop Bure and the Panthers. "I thought it was a good idea, actually," said Leetch, whom Muckler had asked about the strategy late Tuesday night. "Our plan was to limit that line and try to get the lead." But, as the final score unquestionably showed, it did not work tonight.
The plan, utterly defensive in nature, seemed contrary to every fiber of John Muckler's attack-minded coaching being. But a day before the puck had been dropped, Pavel Bure already was in the Rangers' heads. So Muckler decided to drop just about everything in an attempt to stop him. It didn't work. Bure scored the critical first goal off a breakdown in the plan's execution and the Florida Panthers rather easily hammered out a 3-0 victory over the slipping Rangers here last night. "I thought it went very well," Muckler said of the game plan of deploying defenseman Brian Leetch as a left wing whenever right wing Bure jumped onto the ice for Florida. The idea was to go with a left-wing lock like the one Detroit used to win two Stanley Cups — a strategy that intended to force all enemy rushes up one side of the ice by keeping the left wing always in a defensive posture. The Rangers went over it during their morning meeting but had no chance to practice it. Leetch, who had never before played an NHL shift as a forward at even strength, was chosen for his superior skating, high hockey IQ and elite conditioning, which would enable him to play as much and as often as Bure. Only trouble was, once Bure scored his league-leading 41st goal 7:46 into the game, the plan's worst side-effect pretty well crippled the Rangers' offense. Whenever Bure was on the ice, the Rangers deployed only two forwards and could generate little or no attack — and he was on the ice for a whopping 25:19. Once Florida got the lead, Panthers coach Terry Murray deployed Bure as often as possible against the Czechmates line of Jan Hlavac, Petr Nedved and Radek Dvorak, thereby forcing the breakup of the Rangers' only consistently productive trio. "I think they purposely put Bure out against Petr's line knowing that Brian would be out on the wing," defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. "And that's been our top scoring line. But we definitely need production from the other lines as well and the power play." Had the Rangers scored the game's first goal, the entire strategy might have been more successful. But in the eighth minute, Hlavac got caught on the ice when Bure jumped on and the Panthers mounted a rush. After a hesitant stride toward the bench, where a standing Leetch was waiting to hop over the boards, Hlavac said he was told to stay on the ice. He wound up retreating into a bad defensive position, leaving Bure too much room to skate into a loose puck and rip a straight-on slapshot that deflected off Schneider's stick and over Richter's right pad. Bure wouldn't score again, but he was hardly shut down, firing six shots on goal and six others that missed the net. The Rangers, meanwhile, stuck with their Leetch-wing-lock through a second period in which Ray Sheppard scored a late power-play goal (after another undisciplined penalty by Valeri Kamensky) to make it 2-0 and until Scott Mellanby's put-back 7:57 into the third made it 3-0. Said Richter: "The real danger is (Bure) is obviously a great player and you have to honor him in any way you can, but not to the extent where you focus solely on him and leave the rest of your squad vulnerable.
With all due respect to Jaromir Jagr and Paul Kariya, it's clear to me that Pavel Bure is the most exciting player in the NHL today. Game after game, he electrifies the crowds he plays in front of. Almost single-handedly, Bure has revitalized the Florida Panthers' franchise. As of this writing, he has 41 goals in 49 games, a pace that would give him a shot at breaking his personal high of 60, which he achieved twice with the Vancouver Canucks. He's doing this while teams are devising new defensive schemes to try to stop him. In his last two games, against Montreal and the New York Rangers, every time Bure was on the ice, the other team put three defensemen on the ice with the express purpose of shutting Bure down. So much for that idea. In Montreal, he scored the Panthers' lone goal in a 4-1 loss. Against the Rangers, he scored the first goal in a 3-0 victory. The Rangers made one mistake while he was on the ice — they failed to get their third defenseman, in this case Brian Leetch, on the ice because of a faulty change by Jan Hlavac. Bure was able to take advantage of the lapse and score. For the game, he had six shots on goal, plus six shots attempted. Mike Richter robbed him on a breakaway with a brilliant glove save. Bure was also stopped on other good chances. Teams are so conscious of his presence on the ice and the threat he brings, that they tend to overplay him and that creates openings for people on the ice with Bure. It can't be a total reliance on Bure, but his skills demand that other teams figure out another way to stop him. It's pretty difficult to hide on the ice, but if anyone can do it, it's Bure. He has this great knack of slipping away from opposing defenders to get open around the net. What may be most exciting of all is seeing him slip out of his own zone a little early, take a pass from one of his defensemen or linemates at the red line, and break away all alone on opposing goaltenders. By staying in motion and anticipating the play, he gets free. He's usually on the ice with highly skilled defensemen — most recently with players like Robert Svehla or Jaroslav Spacek, who are capable of hitting him with long outlet passes. When Bure sees them clearly get the puck, he's able to then get into high gear, break out of the zone, and they hit him with a pass. Off he goes. More often than not, he scores. Sometimes when he's in one-on-one against a goalie, it's just not fair. It's not just the blue-liners, but the forwards that look for him also. He's been playing a lot with Viktor Kozlov and Ray Whitney, whose first thoughts are to pass Bure the puck. If he's not available, they'll make another play. But most of the time they'll find a way to get him the puck. Bure's presence has increased attendance at the National Car Rental Center, where the Panthers have compiled the third-best home-ice record in the NHL this season. Although the games aren't sold out, don't blame that on Bure. Crowds are improving. Perhaps doubting fans still want to see the Panthers prove themselves in the playoffs. But if they come, they get to see Bure do what he does best: score goals. Those that stay home are missing something special. He's worth the price of admission.
 Pavel Bure celebrates his firt period goal Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 41st goal as the Florida Panthers dominated the slumping New York Rangers in a 3-0 blanking. Not even a shadow could stop Bure, who whistled a slap shot past All-Star goaltender Mike Richter in the first period to open the scoring. It ended up being his league-best 10th game-winner. New York used two-time Norris Trophy winner Brian Leetch at left wing opposite Bure, but the plan upset the Rangers as they managed only 25 shots, mostly harmless. "It was interesting because Brian Leetch is one of the best defensemen in the league," Bure said. "So it was really hard to play against him. That used to happen all the time to me and it is happening more and more." "If he's not the best player in the league, maybe he's tied with Jagr," Muckler said of Bure. "His hand-eye coordination is unbelievable. He's so quick around the net. He has great speed and a great shot." Pavel had six shots on goal and was a plus one for the game.
 Pavel's post game interview
For one night, Jesse Belanger overshadowed Pavel Bure. Belanger scored twice and added a pair of assists against his former team as the Montreal Canadiens overcame Bure's league-leading 40th goal for a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. Bure scored for the third straight game, 7:51 into the opening period, giving him at least 40 goals for the sixth time in his career. He has four goals in three games against Montreal this season. Bure's 40th goal of the season was one of his eight shots on gaol in this game on a team whose total was only 16 shots. Pavel was a minus one for the game
SUNRISE, Fla. -- The buzz begins almost from the moment Pavel Bure crosses the red line, hoping for the puck from a Florida Panthers teammate. And when it comes, the crescendo builds as quickly as the Russian's speed. A few short strides to split the defense. Fake one way. Shoot the other. Red light. Foghorn. ``When he starts off with the puck, he pulls you out of your seat,'' said Panthers general manager Bryan Murray, whose seven-player deal with Vancouver for the ``Russian Rocket'' has suddenly turned around a humdrum team. Bure scored two goals in his Panthers debut, a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. He scored another in the next game and had three more against Philadelphia six days later, becoming only the second NHL player in the past 20 years to score six goals in his first three games with a new team. After six games, Bure had eight goals and 11 points. The only thing that slowed him was a twisted knee and strained calf in a Feb. 5 game against Pittsburgh, causing him to miss the past week. ``He gives us something this franchise has never had -- a superstar,'' center Rob Niedermayer said. ``He can go out there and score a goal at any time.'' Even when they reached the 1996 Stanley Cup finals, the Panthers didn't really have a star. They were a team that relied on hard work, grit and John Vanbiesbrouck's rock-solid goaltending. Bure changed all that. His boyish good looks, Mach-1 speed and deadly accuracy give the team a new identity. While hockey remains largely a niche sport in the region, Bure found himself accosted by well-wishers at a Fort Lauderdale grocery store just days after arriving. The 27-year-old Moscow native is amused by the attention. ``You can't have one player do it all,'' Bure said. ``It's got to be the whole team, obviously. We've got a good young team that's working really hard and trying to do the best they can.'' Bure's exit from Vancouver was bitter. A running feud with management led the three-time 50-goal scorer to sit out the season's first 3 1/2 months and tell the Canucks he'd never play for them again. He stayed in Russia and worked out twice a day with his old club CSKA Moscow, formerly the Soviet Red Army team. But he got no game action until joining the Panthers for their New York road trip. ``What's so unique about what happened here is that Pavel hadn't played since April,'' coach Terry Murray said. ``The way he made an impact, it impressed the whole hockey world.'' Bure also is impressing his young teammates. Nine Panthers are 24 or younger, the result of a youth movement begun last year. ``You can see what you have to do to get to that level,'' said the 24-year-old Niedermayer. ``He practices the way he plays. If you want to reach the next level, you see what you have to do. He has everybody picking up their games. ``If we're down one goal, it's nice to have a guy that's capable of scoring at any time. It makes you play hard all the way to the end.'' Now the Panthers must figure a way to keep that same level until their star returns, which could be in the next several days. Florida, second in the Southeast Division going into the weekend, was 0-2-1 in its first three games since Bure's injury. Terry Murray said that's his problem, not Bure's. ``We're not asking him to be (a clubhouse leader),'' the coach said. ``We just want him to be the best player on the ice. Then things will start to fall into place.'' They certainly have from a marketing standpoint. For Bure's home debut against Montreal, a 2,000-copy run on the team program -- Bure bumped Kirk Muller off the cover -- sold out in 15 minutes. So did the seven No. 10 Bure authentic jerseys that could be produced in time, selling for $324 each. Even some three weeks later, No. 10 doesn't stay on the racks long. ``As fast as it comes in, it goes out,'' said Ron Dennis, the Panthers' director of merchandising. ``It's easily the most popular jersey now. We have seamstresses working as quickly as possible to put his name on.'' On Monday, Bure signed a $47.5 million contract extension that will keep him with the Panthers at least through spring 2004. By comparison, owner H. Wayne Huizenga's expansion fee to join the league in 1993 was $50 million. ``It's a big responsibility. I'm just going to go out there and do the best I can,'' Bure said. If it's anything close to his first half-dozen games, the Panthers will be ecstatic. ``Pavel gives us something we haven't had before,'' team president Bill Torrey said. Call it Rocket power.
It's a two-man race for MVP in the NHL this season. I could bore you with statistical comparisons of Pavel Bure and Jaromir Jagr, but you don't want to read that. Of course, this column isn't at all about what you want. If it were, it would be filled with completely unrelated references to attractive female athletes, and frankly, that's not what I'm all about. So here are the boring statistical comparison: Jagr has 82 points (36 goals, 46 assists) in just 48 games, or 1.7 points a game. He is plus-21 on the season. Owen Nolan is second in the league in points, with 66, and he has played 10 more games than Jagr. "I'm not a goal scorer," Jagr said. "I look more to pass. I don't have his speed." Bure has 37 goals, best in the league, in just 45 games. That's almost a goal a game -- something players simply do not do anymore. The Panthers are 21-1-2 when he scores a goal, and have gone from a playoff no-show to an Eastern Conference contender thanks to his impact.
Pavel has her. Jaromir doesn't. (See, I do give you guys what you want. But you already knew that). Kournikova -- shown here in this photos which is completely unnecessary but rather compelling -- has a "thing" going on with Pavel, according to tabloid reports I believe to be fact. This much is true: The two rich athletes live in the same condo in South Florida. (Dang, wish I had thought of that one). Bure refuses to deny the rumors. "I guess it comes with the territory," said Bure, ever so coy. "I understand people like hockey a lot and they want to know things. ... I can talk about hockey, but my private life is mine." So the nature of this "thing" is undetermined, but whatever it is, it certainly has improved his hockey game. Anna has that affect on athletes. Consider this evidence: Sergei Fedorov, while in the midst of a "thing" with Anna, signed a lucrative six-year contract and was a prolific point machine. Since that "thing" was broken off -- by Anna, we can only assume -- Fedorov has struggled, and this season he has just 15 goals in 45 games. Don't try to tell me that this is unrelated. Then, there is that tennis guy, Philippoussis. He was caught smooching the aforementioned 18-year-old (that's legal, folks) tennis starlet in the parking lot of the Australian Open. Spurred on by this kiss, Philippoussis went on to do great things in the tournament. I think. I wasn't exactly sitting up nights waiting eagerly for those results. Now, it's Bure's turn to ride Kournikova's magic to greatness.
 Mark Parrish had two goals and one assist, and Mikhail Shtalenkov made 24 saves in the Florida Panthers' 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 39th goal at 8:32 of the third period to give Florida a 3-1 lead and seal the game for the Panthers, the only NHL team with a winning record (6-4-3) in Boston. "We've played pretty well lately," Bure said. "I truly believe we should have won (Friday) night as well. With our offense, we've always got a chance."
 Next week's edition of 'The Hockey News', dated February 25, will partially feature Pavel Bure on the cover, and the following article inside. "Rocket Reign Takes Hold" When they were growing up in Moscow, Pavel Bure and his kid brother, Valeri, would skip school to play shinny on a little pond by their home We would never suggest youngsters follow suit. But the Bures' truancy has paid off. Sparked by superstar Pavel's three goals - two set up by Valeri - the World tamed North America 9-4 at the 50th NHL All-Star Game before a sellout crowd of 19,300 at Air Canada Centre. It was the first time in three tries the World has beaten North America. Pavel Bure was presented with a truck a player of the game and when it was all over, Valeri 25, marvelled at what Pavel, 28, had accomplished. "I'm his biggest fan," said the younger Bure. "Sometimes when I'm watching him, I'm doing a lot of standing around." Sort of like the North American defenders when the Bures were dangling with the puck. Look no further than defencemaen Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings and Phil Housley of the Calgary Flames. Both finished the game minus - 5. It was the first time the Bure boys had played together since the 1998 Olympics and the first time brothers had combined for a goal in an NHL All-Star Game since the Richards - Maurice and Henri - did it in 1958. Fittingly, both Maurice Richard and Pavel Bure are nicknamed 'Rocket' and Bure is a good bet to win the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal-scorer this season. The Florida Panther had 37 goals in 45 games to lead Pittsburgh Penguin Jaromir Jagr, who scored 36 times in 48 contests. Pavel came close in the third period to adding a fourth goal - which would have tied an All-Star Game record shared by four players - on a feed from Valeri, but was turned away by New York Rangers' goalie Mike Richter. On the way backto the bench after the play, Pavel put his arm around his brother, the Calgary Flames' leading scorer, and whispered into his ear. "After the second period I told Valeri I already had two goals and if I got the puck, go to the net and I would make sure I got it to him for a goal," Pavel said. "But he made the extra pass back to me, trying to get me another goal." To which the personable Valeri responded: "Younger brothers never listen to their older brothers." Florida's Viktor Kozlov centered the line and picked up three assists. "Pavel can get the puck and when he does, he can score," Kozlov said. "I just tried to stay out of his way." Given the talent on the ice, the game was played at an excruciatingly slow pace - rather than show replays of some goals, it would have been fitting to use an artist's rendition of the play. The Europeans, known for their tic-tac-toe playmaking, outshot North America 48-32. The North Americans passed far too much in the offensive zone, often at the expense of a clear shot on goal. That, coupled with the game's unofficial "no hitting" rule, cost them dearly. While much of the attention was on the scorers, the goalies held their own. North American starter Curtis Joseph of the hometown Maple Leafs made a number of huge saves, including a beauty on Kozlov who broke in alone,though the World opened up a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes. Tommy Salo of the Edmonton Oilers deserved consideration for player of the game - simply because he twice chased down pucks to avoid icing calls. And washington Capitalls' netminder Olaf Kolzig, who entered the game at the start of the third period with the World clinging to a 5-4 advantage, blocked all eight North American shots he faced. Kolzig, who was born in South Africa, grew up in Canada, plays in the U.S., but qualified for the World team due to his German citizenship, became the first goalie in 18 years to get a shutout in the third period. Pavol Demitra of the St. Louis Blues scored twice for the World with Jagr, Dmitry Yushkevich of the Leafs, Miroslav Satan of the Buffalo Sabres and radek Bonk of the Ottawa Senators adding singles. Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, Jeremy Roenick of the Phoenix Coyotes, Tony Amonte of the Chicago Blackhawks and ray Whitney of the Panthers replied for North America. Scotty Bowman of the Red Wings was the winning coach; Pat Quinn of the Leafs was the loser.
Jason York, Radek Bonk and Shawn McEachern scored in a 2:49 span late in the third period to lift the Ottawa Senators to a wild 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers. Ron Tugnutt stopped 21 shots for Ottawa, which won for just the second time in the last nine (2-4-3) despite blowing a 2-0 lead. The Senators appeared demoralized after All-Star Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 38th goal to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead midway through the third period. But Ottawa took advantage of some of lucky bounces to regain the lead. With 5:39 remaining, York caught a Panthers' clearing attempt in the neutral zone and darted alone up the right side before roofing the puck over goaltender Mike Vernon to tie the game. Just over two minutes later, Bonk took a pass in the right faceoff circle and attempted a centering pass to a defenseman, but the puck deflected off the skate of former Senators defenseman Lance Pitlick and past Vernon for the game-winner. McEachern capped the barrage with 2:50 remaining by firing the puck through Vernon's pads after taking a pass from Joe Juneau in the slot. Tugnutt, who stopped Bure on a breakaway early in the second period, won for the first time in six decisions. Pavel registered six shots on goal for his goal and an assist, and was plus one for the evening.
There were no teary reunions at GM Place on Wednesday. Calgary Flames star Valeri Bure was in Vancouver to play the Canucks, but he made no attempt to speak to his father, Valdimir. "No, we're not talking," Valeri said, when asked if he'd try to reach his dad. Vladimir lives just across False Creek from GM Place, but he might as well be on the other side of the ocean as far as Valeri and older brother Pavel are concerned. Valeri and Pavel stopped talking to their father two years ago. Vladimir is deeply hurt. "There's no question that someday it's going to be resolved," says Valeri. "There's always family ups and downs and, ah, some day it will all be good." Valeri wouldn't give any reasons for the dispute, but he's disappointed that his father chose to reveal his feelings in an interview with The Province on the weekend. "It's something that's so, so personal that's going on in our family. We only want todiscuss it with ourselves. "I was surprised (that his father spoke). You don't wish for anybody to put that out. It's disappointing. We talk about it with our family and you just don't talk about that anywhere, so it's a little bit disappointing." Valeri, meanwhile is on pins and nedles with wife Candace about to give birth to their second child. "Our due date is the 20th (of February)," he said. "We're super excited. We just can't wait." He was asked if he has plans to play games with a pager. "Yeah," he laughed. "Our PR guy is on it. He has the phone number and hopefully it won't be during a game."
During these days of his sons' greatest achievement and recognition, his name is being dragged through the mud for what amounts to a marital dispute and the sin of being old-fashioned. His income potential as a trainer for NHL players may have been threatened by the publicity based on what Pavel Bure thought about his first knee operation rehab. If you ask a friend of both the father and the Bure brothers, it's the boys who really should lighten up and drive the reconciliation process. Pavel and Valeri, of course, are right near the top of a very narrow pyramid of hockey players, the greatest brother act in the NHL and one of the best of all-time. While you might argue with his methods, the old man got them there. He is cast as the overbearing tyrant who pushed too hard and now fouled up a rehab, the latter analysis which may not hold up in light of the facts. Bure's supposed professional crime is that the rehab he did with Pavel after his first knee operation in Vancouver was such that it contributed to the need for a second operation, last season in Florida. "First of all I don't believe he said that," said Bure of the statements attributed to Pavel. "What people don't remember is we did the (first) rehab under the supervision of the Canucks, their doctors and their strength coach. They watched everything closely. They test him all the time and cleared him to play. And the recovery wasn't bad. He did score 51 goals." Bure contends it was only after Pavel left him did the player run into the problems which recurred in Florida. The boys stopped training with Vladimir at the end of the summer of '97 and only after missing the following summer's training and then the fall with the holdout did Pavel's problem arise. Vladimir may be tough but just about everyone who submits to his regimen shows considerable progress. That's why he still works with NHL players and why his old-fashioned, hard-driving approach likely turned his sons off. But there are lots of dads who pushed their kids in various directions. That normally doesn't break up a family. "He has tremendous practical knowledge," said Dusan Benicky, the program director and physiologist at Human Performance in Burnaby who has worked alongside Bure and with the boys in the past. "He is very focused on goals and is determined to reach them. Yes, he can be tough. But if you want to get somewhere that isn't always a bad thing. "I've seen this from both sides and I think the boys are a little bit at fault in this. I consider them all friends and Vladimir is pretty upset by all this stuff." By North American standards, Vladimir is a taskmaster, no question. But when you remember he was raised in the old Soviet Union and learned much of his practical knowledge in that system you understand where he comes from. Wayne Gretzky and Marty McSorley like to tell the story of the day the latter got his big contract from Pittsburgh after his rights were dealt from L.A. for Shawn McEachern in August of '93. Pavel Bure was summering in L.A. that year so they invited him on a quick trip to Vegas to celebrate McSorley's $2 million US per year deal. They hoisted a jar or two and hung in the casino most of the night and arrived back about 6 a.m., flopping into bed. Vladimir dragged Pavel out at 8 a.m. and worked him out four hours anyway. It was that work ethic, instilled and demanded by Vladimir, that carried Pavel to the top, with Valeri working just as hard and now finding himself not far behind. It's a bit hypocritical for the brothers to shut him out when he was largely the reason they attained such success, even if they do think he did their mother dirt. Now there may well be things we don't know about in the husband-wife relationship that are causing the kids to shun their dad. Fair enough. But if not, these kids should give the guy a break. Regardless of what happens, some good has come of this. Bure has resolved to contact his sons to try again. "Life is too short to go on like this," he said. "I will call them."
Valeri Bure is not his father's son, but then nobody is these days. In a family as fractured as the Russia they come from, Valeri Bure is closest to his big brother, Pavel. And now he is as near to him in the National Hockey League scoring race as he has always been away from the ice. Valeri, fresh from an all-star game where he and his sibling linemate eclipsed everyone else in the World Team's victory in Toronto, has finally emerged from his superstar brother's inky shadow. Valeri has already set a career-high with 28 goals this season, is leading an undertalented Calgary Flames team towards the playoffs, is due a huge pay raise when his current contract expires, and with actress-wife Candace Cameron is expecting a second child on Feb. 20. Life is good for little brother. "It's not always good," Valeri, 24, grinned before the Flames' game Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks. "But these are times you cherish. The baby is a blessing. The all-star game, my brother was there, it was exciting. My mum was there, too. It's pretty exciting." Conspicuous by his absence from Toronto was Pavel and Valeri's father, Vladimir who lives in Vancouver but hasn't spoken with his sons in two years. The family split - the boys are close to their mother, who lives in Moscow after divorcing Vladimir - has been public knowledge since it was reported by The Vancouver Sun in 1997. But it spilled back into the media recently when Sports Illustrated quoted a jilted Vladimir in the magazine's January feature story on Pavel. "You're always surprised; you don't wish anybody would bring it up in the paper or wherever it might be," Valeri said. "We talk about it within our family. There's no question someday it's going to be resolved. There's always in families ups and downs. Someday it will be good." Valeri has been good all season. His 28 goals - Bure had 52 points in 53 games - were tied for fifth in the NHL and only once this season has the 5'10" winger gone more than three games without scoring. "It was pretty big," he said of going to the all-star game. "Obviously, I was hoping to get to play in the all-star game. But when they actually call you, it's a pretty big surprise. Just to play with [Pavel] was a pleasure. It was like a dream come true. It seemed like we understand each other on the ice." Pavel was named the showcase game's MVP while Valeri set up two of his brother's goals. "I think it would be cool," Valeri said of one day playing on the same NHL team as Pavel. "It would be really cool. We really like to play with each other. We played street hockey [as kids]. We had a pond outside our apartment. We'd just take sticks and go out there and mess around. More than anything, it was like supporting each other. That's the way it is now."
Florida 4, San Jose 1 Ray Sheppard scored twice, Viktor Kozlov had two assists and Mike Vernon made 28 saves as the Florida Panthers defeated the San Jose Sharks, 4-1. Bure, the NHL's leading goal scorer with 37, was left pointless, but Sheppard picked up the load. "It's a good sign that we're able to win when Pavel doesn't score," coach Terry Murray said. "We need other people on all the lines to contribute every night. … Shepp gets a couple. Pavel registered 4 shots on goal, and was a plus one for the night.
Is Vladimir Bure the forgotten father? When Pavel and Valeri Bure lined up for the World Team in Sunday's NHL All-Star Game, their father Vladimir wasn't watching. He was as far away from the television as he could get. Watching his two sons play hockey used to be the joy of his life. Now the spectacle only breaks his confused heart. "My boys ... " says Vladimir, close to tears and sitting on a couch in his modest west-side Vancouver townhouse. "I gave everything for my boys. It's like someone is trying to destroy my life. I don't understand. I won't watch it. It's too painful." Neither Pavel, 28, nor Valeri Bure, 25, has spoken to Vladimir since the fall of 1998. How ironic it seems. First the autumn change. And now this cold, bitter winter of their discontent. "Before they were born, I was just 19 and I was already dreaming," says Vladimir. "I would see my kids as Olympic champions. I didn't want them to be doctors or engineers or lawyers. I wanted them to be athletes. I spent all my life working with them but I don't feel appreciation from my kids. "When Pavel was having his operation [for torn knee ligaments] I asked the doctors if they could give him my ligaments." But when the Bure boys played for Russia in the Nagano Olympics in 1998, Vladimir did not witness the great moment. "They forgot to invite me to the Olympic Games. It was one of the most painful times in my life." To understand Vladimir Bure's pain you must first understand Vladimir Bure. He was born in Norilsk, a Siberian gulag. His father, Valeri, had been sent there by the Stalinist government. Vladimir, a passionate and driven man, moved to Moscow at a young age. He became a swimmer. A very good one. He represented the Soviet Union in three Olympics, winning a silver and three bronze medals. But the fire that drove Vladimir Bure to outswim the world also drove him to make his sons the best they could be. In the end he probably drove them too hard. Pavel and Valeri must have their reasons for the silence. Vladimir says he has no idea what they are. "It's like drops of water on a stone," he says. "Eventually the stone breaks in half." Asked if he pushed too hard, Vladimir says: "It's a price. To be good, you don't pay money. It's hard work. No, if I didn't do it, then they don't reach where they are. "Every father should understand me. I'm not a special father, I'm a normal father." A father, divorced and remarried, that doesn't even have Pavel's phone number. His older son has become a mystery to him. He doesn't have much to say about Pavel's reported associations with shady characters, including the alleged Russian gangster Anzor Kikalishvili. Vladimir told Sports Illustrated recently that Pavel's friends are "very bad." "I don't know if he's bad," says Vladimir now. "I can't tell Pavel how to choose his friends. I don't know if he's bad or good." Though his sons make millions, Vladimir struggles, training other athletes. Those he has worked with include Alexander Mogilny, Gino Odjick and rookie-of-the-year candidate Scott Gomez. Still, Vladimir says this family problem isn't about money. And his dreams aren't of Olympic medals or NHL stardom but of a greater prize -- reconciliation. "I dream of that ... my two boys ... they are still in my heart."
Bure brothers steal All-Star Game spotlight
 Pavel Bure holds the All-Star MVP trophy as he poses with brother, Valeri. -Ezra O. Shaw/Allsport Even though big brother already had three goals and the MVP award in hand, little brother still tried to set him up for a fourth -- even though big brother had been telling little brother to shoot next time he got the chance. The play was broken up. "You know," explained Valeri Bure, "younger brother never listens to older one." It wasn't rocket science. Then again, it was. Putting Viktor Kozlov between the Russian Rocket and the Pocket Rocket was probably the easiest decision Scotty Bowman had to make Sunday at the 50th NHL All-Star Game. Playing alongside his Florida Panthers teammate and his little brother, Pavel Bure continued his torrid season with three goals and an assist en route to the MVP award in the World's 9-4 victory over North America. Valeri Bure chipped in with two assists -- both to his big brother -- and Kozlov had three assists. "Obviously we were going to try to keep them together," said Bowman, who -- like previous World coaches Ken Hitchcock and Lindy Ruff -- was content to draw up lines by nation and let the guys play. Did he see a glimpse of the superb skills that has typified Russian hockey throughout the years? You better believe it. "You could see that classic Russian hockey," Bowman said. "They utilize a lot of the ice. A couple of instances on those passing plays where the puck seems to go board to board." Valeri set up Pavel for two goals in an 8:05 stretch of the second period. On their first shift of the period, they went virtually the length of the ice on a give-and-go that resulted in Pavel's first goal. Eight minutes later, Valeri walked in from the blue line and sent a diagonal pass to his big brother, who whipped it past Martin Brodeur from near the bottom of the right faceoff circle.
"It was great to see how excited they were to play together," said Teemu Selanne, who was reminded of the inaugural International Showdown in 1998 when he and fellow Finns Saku Koivu and Jere Lehtinen tore the roof off the GM Place in Vancouver. "Even when Pavel scored that second goal, the way they were hugging and laughing. It was fun to watch." Pavel completed the hat trick -- why not, he leads the league -- by standing in front of Mike Richter and batting in a rebound late in the third period. "It was just a special night for me," Pavel said. "I was playing with my brother and he set up two goals for me ... and helped me to get the MVP. So it is just a special night." Pavel is in the midst of a special season in Florida, leading the league with 38 goals as he re-establishes himself as one of the premier showmen in the NHL after a couple of disappointing seasons. Valeri is having a breakout season in Calgary, mostly breaking out of his big brother's shadows. His 28 goals already is a career high. "I always lived a little bit in my brother's shadow," Valeri Bure said. "He's one of the biggest players in the NHL. It's tough to overcome that but when you live in the shadow of one of the best, it's not so bad. "I made some name for myself and people probably recognize what I do in my own way. It probably gives me a feel for what he feels like ... probably about one-tenth of what he feels like." But he's not about to challenge for the family scoring crown. "I don't think I want to have a bet with my brother ... maybe if he has to score two or three for every one of mine." Earlier this week, Pavel was anticipating the chance to play with his brother for the first time since the 1998 Olympics. "It's going to be great," he said. "I'm really proud of him, [this season is] a great thing for him to have done. He's a great player on his own, different from me. I am my own player and my own person and he is his own player and person and I'm glad that he's getting a chance to show that to the world." And on Sunday, he showed North America a thing or two, too
Pavel & Valeri Bure NHL All-Star Post-Game Press Conference Q. Pavel, after you scored your third goal, you guys had a give-and-go, you were working together. It got broken up. You had your arm around Valeri afterwards, were you telling him that he should have taken the shot? PAVEL BURE: After third goal? Q. After the third goal. PAVEL BURE: It is kind of funny situation because after second period we were talking in the dressing room, I said, "If we have 2 on 1, just go to the off post, I will give you a pass, and shoot it right away." But he tried to get me the fourth goal; that is why he gave it back to me. Q. Pavel, what does it mean to you to win this award? PAVEL BURE: Well, obviously it is a great honor for me to be MVP of All-Star Game. It was just special night for me. I was playing with my brother. He set up two goals for me. He was on my line and he helped me to get MVP, so it is just a special night. Q. Can you just talk about playing with Pavel and give us an update on the baby situation. VALERI BURE: Well, baby is still in. Hasn't come out yet. What about my brother? You know, I don't think I can say that much about him. He is a very electrifying player, brings a lot of fans out of their seats. I am his biggest fan sometimes when I am watching, I am doing a lot of standing. So today was one of those nights when I could actually play on the same line and it is actually pretty easy to play with him. Every time you give him the puck, it is 99% it is a goal. So just try to give him the puck and go to the net, make it easier on me. He doesn't make that many mistakes. He always puts it in. Q. Given the fact that he told you to shoot the puck before the period, why didn't you listen to him? VALERI BURE: You know, younger brother never listen to older one. [LAUGHTER]. But, you know, I think it would be super special -- it is -- it doesn't get any better, he got MVP, three goals, it is nice if he got a fourth one, so it would be fun. Q. Pavel, could you talk a little bit about what it meant to you to be involved in the opening screen today with the three players yesterday and Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky? Also, can you tell us, have you ever skated, playing pond hockey as a kid out on a little lake like that growing up in Russia? PAVEL BURE: It meant a lot for me to be around those guys. I felt like I was a part of the hockey history when you see those legends like Wayne, Mario and Gordie. Just shooting this -- I don't think it was just a commercial. It was something bigger. It was something -- something that specific, a little movie would probably make history. It is like changing generations and it meant a lot to me. Second question, yeah, we used to play with my brother. We had frozen lake near our building and sometimes instead of going to school, we would go play hockey. Q. Could you talk about your mother being at the game today and how important it was, how special it was for both of you to play in front of her and when is the last time you did play in front of her? PAVEL BURE: Well, usually she comes to North America a few times during the season, comes to Calgary or goes to Montreal, Vancouver or Miami now. It was a special night for us because my mom, our mom, just flew in for a few days for three, four days from Moscow. It is a pretty long trip, but she came here and it just feels great to see your mom when you are getting something special. I am really happy she could make it. Q. What is your mother's name? PAVEL BURE: Tatiana. Q. When is the last time you guys skated on the same line? PAVEL BURE: I don't know. We played just a little bit at the Olympic Games. We didn't really have a good shot at it. But that is the last time we probably were on the same ice together. VALERI BURE: Before that I think it was at the Red Army Club, he was player for Red Army. I was just getting to that level at 16 and we had a chance to play on the same team. Q. Do you think the torch has been passed like you were saying? You were saying the generation was switched, but do you think the torch has been passed to players like you and Jagr? PAVEL BURE: It is hard to talk about yourself, but I was around the great players like Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya, Jagr, and those guys won MVP few times, they are leading the League in points, and obviously they are really big superstars right now and that is the guys who supposed to promote the game and be the leaders not just the clubs but the NHL. Q. Yesterday Valeri said you might be playing together again if you were willing to take a pay cut, would you be willing to take a sacrifice like that? PAVEL BURE: Oh, yeah, definitely. Q. One of the things you talked about, the other generations of hockey players. One of the things those guys were known for; Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzsky, was selling the hockey game. Are you prepared as part of the next generation to make that sacrifice and really sell the game of hockey? PAVEL BURE: Well, first of all, I am not a businessman. In our days you have to kind of mix business plus hockey. I don't think anybody did more things for hockey than Wayne. He brought the hockey in the south of United States, to Calgary, to everywhere and he is still great, and so I think it is going to be really hard to compare our generation to guys like Wayne Gretzky. Q. Pavel, last two years Florida Panthers had no players in this game. Today three Florida Panthers had eight points together. Can you just talk about the statement that has made for the Panthers? PAVEL BURE: Always nice to see your teammates doing so well. Roy Whitney was playing really great. He got a goal, great setup. Kozlov was on our line, so he helped us a lot too. So it was great.
Ohhhh, brother! Pavel Bure talked about playing on a frozen pond in Russia, and suggested that he might have missed the odd school day to play. "Sometimes we wouldn't go to school because we wanted to play hockey," said the Russian Rocket of his youth with brother Valeri. Yesterday, the Florida Panthers' high-scoring winger teamed up with his brother to teach a lesson in scoring, totalling six points in a 9-4 World Team victory over North America. Valeri, now with the Calgary Flames, set up two of Pavel's three goals (Pavel also added an assist) to make a rather dull afternoon at the Air Canada Center special. Watching them play together yesterday, it wasn't hard to imagine all those afternoons of their childhood. Afternoons that forged two great NHLers. Shinny games that honed the skills of both, skills that allowed Pavel to earn the game's MVP honour yesterday. "To me, he's electrifying and I'm his biggest fan," said Valeri. "I love to watch him play and when I do, I'm rarely sitting down. To get to play on the same line with him was just great. I just wanted to get the puck to him because 90% of the time he's going to score." The scoresheet read Bure from Bure 33 seconds into the middle period, then Bure from Bure again 8:05 later. Detroit coach Scotty Bowman is regarded as a genius, but putting the Bures together for the NHL's annual scoring fest would seem to have been a no-brainer. They used to play together all the time as kids, but are now separated much of the time by more than half a continent. "It was (St. Louis coach) Joel (Quenneville's) idea," said Bowman. "Really, it was something we talked about Saturday morning. It was great." For Pavel, it was a special day. "I'm very honoured to win the MVP and it's special because my brother was here to help me win the MVP," he said. Asked if he would still take a pay cut to play with his brother, Pavel responded: "Yes, I would." That ought to set the phone lines between Florida and Calgary humming. "It's too bad it was only for one game," Bowman lamented. With Pavel gunning to tie an all-star game record for goals (four), his brother tried to feed him again on a third-period 2-on-1. "I had told Valeri to go the post and I would get the puck to him for the shot," said Pavel, but Valeri wanted Pavel to get that fourth goal. "The younger brother never listens to the older brother," replied Valeri. The opportunity went for naught, but by that point Pavel had wrapped up the MVP, and the World all-stars had wrapped up the game. Aside from the Bures' brilliance, the highlight for Senators fans at 19:28 of the final period when Radek Bonk took a cross-ice feed and whacked it past Mike Richter for the final World team goal. Pavol Demitra scored twice, Jaromir Jagr, Dmitry Yushkevich and Miroslav Satan had the others for the World team. For the North Americans, Joe Sakic, Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte and Ray Whitney scored. If the game itself is a poor imitation of hockey -- without the hitting and intensity -- at least the World vs. North America format did give us the Bures and some creative playmaking. "I don't think there is another format that could provide that sense of competition and also look after representatives from each club," said North American coach Pat Quinn. If they can't play together every night, the thought of them being together again next year for a World team, even for 60 minutes, is something to look forward to.
Ma's Valuable Player
 Newspaper from Finland Bure to Bure, for mom. Two brothers' love for the woman who raised them on her own, through poverty and severe challenges as a single mom, was reflected in the beaming smile. The smile was mom's, standing outside the dressing room after the 50th NHL All-Star Game. "I couldn't be prouder of my two sons," Tatiana Bure said through an interpreter. No one needed to interpret the joy she felt at the success of her two boys. And it was just as apparent on the ice as Pavel fashioned an all-star MVP performance with three goals, two of them set up beautifully by little brother Val of the Calgary Flames. After their first goal, Pavel leaned over to younger brother, throwing his arm around his shoulder and shaking him in joy. "We did it," the gesture seemed to say. Yesterday, before the hockey world, two brothers from Moscow put on the show of their lives. But it wasn't the millions who watched on television they played for. It was for one woman seated in the stands. Mom. "We owe everything to our mom," said Val. "She's one of the most important people in our lives." "She raised us, and when we struggled, she was there for bad and good. "Now it's a good time, and I wanted to share that with her, and with my wife and brother. "It doesn't get any better than that. "It's just exciting for us to see her in the stands. "We didn't think we had to do anything special. She was in tears just to see us go on the ice at the same time." The tears came from the remembered hardship, raising her boys in Moscow until their hockey skills finally pulled the family out of near poverty. Tatiana supported her two sons by working as many jobs as she could handle -- sometimes as many as three, including her full-time job at a local supermarket. With the estrangement of father Vladimir, times were tough. Val talks of the challenges of keeping food on the table, clothes on their bodies. It was tough. But as much as it was a challenge, it forged an indelible family spirit. Even today, the brothers keep in contact almost daily by phone, despite the fact they're separated by a continent. The on-ice chemistry was apparent from the start. With Viktor Kozlov in the middle, the Bure brothers skated on the same forward line for the first time. "It was a special night for me," said Pavel. In the second period, they worked their special magic. Val, weaving into the offensive zone, threw a no-look back pass to his older brother streaking down the middle. Pavel's slapshot beat Martin Brodeur. Older brother pointed at younger brother and skated over to embrace in celebration. It was just the beginning of more Bure magic to come. Later that period, Val again carried the puck into the North American zone, his attention focused on Pavel backing into a shooting position on the wing. The pass was perfect, the goal a one-time shot that was a thing of beauty. Pavel added his third in the final period, a rebound of a Kozlov shot and his hat trick, and the MVP performance was complete. In the final seconds, older brother passed to Val as he was alone at the side of the net, just as Pavel had told him on the bench to do. Val, instead of shooting, passed it back, trying to get his brother his fourth all-star goal. "Younger brother never listens to the older one," laughed Val. It was a chapter of a family's storybook success, one that is far from being complete. As mom left the rink, she clutched the crystal MVP trophy to her chest. "Is that yours?" she was asked. "Of course it is," she replied without the need of interpreter. The Bure brothers couldn't agree more.
Bure brothers are World leaders TORONTO -- They were the world. They were Pavel and Valeri Bure, brothers three years apart in age, and they turned yesterday's NHL All-Star Game into a rather nice snapshot for the family album. Playing together on the same line, Pavel finished with three goals on the way to being named the game's MVP -- Valeri assisted on two of those goals -- as the World All-Stars defeated the North America All-Stars, 9-4, in front of 19,300 in the Air Canada Centre. "[Pavel] is a very electrifying player," Valeri Bure said. "It is pretty easy for me to play with him. When you give him the puck, 99% of the time it's going to be a goal." "[Pavel] doesn't need very many chances, you know, he doesn't need much room," said Red Wings Coach Scotty Bowman, the head coach for the World team. P> It was the first time in the three All-Star games the NHL has used the North America vs. the World format that the World team has won. Bure's hat trick was also the 11th in All-Star Game history, but the first by a Russian-born player. And in game where contact is usually limited to the handshakes when it's over -- Phoenix Coyotes center Jeremy Roenick was the only player to actually knock someone off his feet with a check -- the World team flourished in the wide-open affair. "There was a lot of action," said Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Pat Quinn, the head coach of the North America team. "This is so much fun," said St.Louis Blues left wing Pavol Demitra, who added two goals for the World team. "There is no hitting; everybody is just trying to make nice moves and playing 1-on-1, it's so much fun." The World team outshot the North America squad in every period, finishing with a 48-32 advantage, and the league's stars who are natives of Canada and the United States never seemed all that comfortable in the freewheeling flow. "What you saw was a lot of speed, and you get some skill and some nice plays and some nice finish out there," said Blues Coach Joel Quenneville, the assistant for the World team. "I think this format is probably as close a game as you're going to get to the two different styles," Bowman said.< P> European players grow up playing on an ice surface that is both several feet longer and wider -- also the size used in the Olympics -- than North Americans do . As a result, the offensive rushes from players used to playing on what those in hockey call "the big ice" tend to involve more cycling and passing horizontally across the rink. North Americans learn to play vertical for the most part because there isn't as much room. So in a game where there isn't much contact, where speed wins over size, the goals can come in a flurry. "And [Saturday], somebody asked who I thought would be the MVP," said Maple Leafs defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich, who played for the World team. "I think for a little bit and I say Pavel would be MVP ... He is a great, great forward, and the Russian forwards can put the puck in the net." "It's just a special night for me," Pavel Bure said. "Playing with my brother, he set up two goals for me. It's just a special night for me." The Bures rattled open a 3-2 game -- the World team holding the lead -- in the second period. Pavel scored his first goal of the game just 33 seconds into the period, on an assist from Valeri, and followed that with another goal roughly eight minutes later. On the second, he pounded a pass from his brother past New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. The two goals gave the World team a 5-2 lead in a game where the North Americans never held the lead. Pavel Bure's third goal came 9:31 into the third. "I only get him for one game," Bowman said. "Too bad, huh?" "It doesn't get any better," Valeri Bure said. "He got MVP, three goals, it's very special."
Bure leads World For three blissful hours at Air Canada Center, all was right within the NHL's dysfunctional family. Hockey's past, present and future came together Sunday as a sellout crowd of 19,300 focused on the red line instead of red ink. Dynamic Florida winger Pavel Bure took center stage instead of fidgety NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 was hoisted to the rafters and defense went along for the ride in a 9-4 victory by the World Team that took everyone's minds off the precarious state of the game. New Jersey rookie Scott Gomez and Boston's 39-year-old defenseman Ray Bourque skated side by side for North America, which lost for the first time in the three years of this international format. "What Ray Bourque said to me really helped me out," Gomez said. "He told me to remember what got you here and just go out there and have fun. If you don't forget how you got there, you'll be in many more." Fun was the operative word as Bure and his younger brother, Valeri, combined for six points. Pavel Bure was named MVP after registering three goals and an assist while his kid brother from Calgary fed him for a pair of second-period scores. "It is a great honor for me to be MVP of an All-Star Game," said Bure, who fired eight of the World's 48 shots at a trio of embattled North America goaltenders. "It was just a special night. I was playing with my brother and he set up two goals for me." Valeri Bure passed off several scoring opportunities in an attempt to spring his brother for a fourth goal. And why not? In five All-Star appearances, the NHL's current goal-scoring leader has seven goals, five assists and 24 shots. He is a very electrifying player," Valeri Bure said. "I am Pavel's biggest fan and he brings a lot of fans out of their seats. It's actually pretty easy to play with him. Give him the puck and 99 percent of the time, it's a goal." Lightning defenseman Petr Svoboda went without a point, but Pavol Demitra of St. Louis, the best player you've never heard of, chipped in two goals as the two teams combined for just six hits. Viktor Kozlov, Pavel Bure's Panther teammate, added a goal and two assists for the World Team. "Toronto, in my opinion, is the hockey capital of the world, so there couldn't be a more suitable city to have an All-Star Game," said Maple Leaf center Mats Sundin, whose introduction prompted some of the biggest cheers of the day. "This is a great moment and something I will take with me for the rest of my life." The festivities began with a moving NHL video starring retired legends stumbling upon current All-Stars playing on a frozen pond, concluding with a passing of the hockey torch. The scene was filmed Friday afternoon on the outskirts of Toronto. "When I first heard they were going to do it, I was almost shivering," said St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville, who assisted Scotty Bowman on the World Team bench. "I saw it prior to going out on the ice and it was a wow. I almost had a tear going down my cheek."
Bures make it World's party, 9-4 TORONTO - A frozen pond. A pair of brothers. A shared vision. The Bure brothers nearly connected for another goal in a four-goal World third period, but Valeri disobeyed big brother's instructions by passing up an open shot to try to feed Pavel again. "Younger brother never listens to [the] older one," said Valeri, who plays for Calgary and insists he would take less pay to play alongside Pavel in Florida. "I thought it would be even better if he got a fourth goal." Bure's hat trick was the 11th in All-Star history and the fourth in four years in a game that has increasingly emphasized offense, with an average of 16 goals over the last 10 years. That's what made World goaltender Olaf Kolzig's shutout third period so unusual. He faced eight shots and stopped them all as the World kept building on the 5-4 lead it held entering the period. "We got some great goaltending," said Detroit's Scotty Bowman, who coached in an All-Star Game for an unprecedented fifth decade. "He [Kolzig] made some tough saves and really distinguished himself out there." Pavol Demitra of St. Louis scored his second goal and Miroslav Satan of Buffalo and Radek Bonk of Ottawa also scored in the four-goal period against Mike Richter, the only goaltender not to allow a goal in Saturday night's skills competition. The five-goal decision followed close victories by North America, 8-6, in 1999 and 8-7 in 1988, in the first two All-Star Games played under the present format. In a game where defense is an afterthought and hitting is totally forgotten as players guard against injuries, hometown goaltender Curtis Joseph of the Maple Leafs made 20 saves for North America in a busy first period, yet still trailed, 3-2. With icings waved off and the play constantly flowing from end-to-end with no checking or face-offs to interfere, it took only 11 minutes to play the first nine minutes of clock time - an unheard of pace for a regular-season game. The first and only penalty wasn't assessed until 5:51 of the third period, when Colorado's Sandis Ozolinsh of the World team was called for hooking. St. Louis goaltender Roman Turek, initially left off the World team despite owning better statistics than Tommy Salo of Edmonton or Kolzig of Washington, started for the injured Dominik Hasek of Buffalo and was outstanding despite yielding goals to Joe Sakic and Jeremy Roenick. Turek stopped breakaways by Whitney and Owen Nolan, giving his World teammates time to open a 2-0 lead on goals by Demitra at 3:12 and NHL scoring leader Jaromir Jagr of Pittsburgh at 10:50. A total of nine players scored goals. "A lot of action, a lot of shots," Turek said of the almost nonstop up-and-down flow. "I think it's more like European hockey." And, right now, European hockey is king, as evidenced by the Czech Republic's gold in the 1998 Olympics, when Canada and the United States didn't medal. Many of those Czech players, including Turek and Jagr, were on the World team that Bowman said was "almost like a Czech all-star team." Gretzky, who retired last year, was missing from the All-Star lineup for the first time in 19 years. But he drew an extended ovation when his No. 99 was officially retired by every NHL team during a pre-game ceremony. Unlike the other major all-star games, the NHL format sometimes puts regular-season teammates on opposing teams. That's how Toronto's Dimitri Yushkevich beat Joseph, his Toronto teammate, on the goal that put the World ahead 3-1 at 14:35. "He's been setting me up in practice," Joseph said. "He hasn't scored on me all year." Pavel Bure's first two goals, in a span of 8:05 at the start of the second period, came against Martin Brodeur of New Jersey and put the World ahead, 5-2. But North America closed again to within one goal, at 5-4, as Tony Amonte of Chicago scored at 12:14 and Whitney at 17:08, with Salo in goal. Ray Bourque, who tied Gretzky by playing in an 18th consecutive All-Star Game, and Mark Messier each had an assist to remain tied for the All-Star record with 13 assists. Besides the memorable opening clip, the ABC telecast featured in-game interviews with coaches and players, who answered questions submitted via the Internet. The live microphones made for an uncomfortable afternoon for North America coach Pat Quinn, who said, "I was not allowed to speak to the officials in the language I am normally accustomed."
Hip, Hip, Bure! Brothers click in All-Star rout
 HARRY SCULL JR./Buffalo News MVP Pavel Bure and brother Valeri combined for five points in the 9-4 victory. Valeri Bure woke up Sunday morning wondering if this would be the day. He was anxious, nervous. He really didn't know what would happen. Forget about the 50th NHL All-Star Game, the first for Bure, for a minute. Bure's wife, Candace Cameron, who played D.J. on the sitcom "Full House," came to the All-Star Game nine months pregnant with their second child. Her doctor flew in from Calgary just in case. The couple wanted to make sure the baby was born in the United States, so Children's Hospital in Buffalo was on alert. Considering how well he had everything set up for his family, it was no surprise that he did the same for his older brother, Pavel, on Sunday afternoon. Valeri Bure set up Pavel Bure for two of his three goals as the World Team beat North America, 9-4, before 19,300 fans in the Air Canada Centre. "The baby is still in. It hasn't come out yet," Valeri Bure said. "My brother, I don't think I can say enough about him. He's a very electrifying player. He brings a lot of fans out of their seats, and I'm his biggest fan." Pavel Bure recorded the 11th hat trick in All-Star Game history. He also added one assist and left with a new 2000 Dodge Dakota as the game's most valuable player. Valeri Bure finished with two assists. Basically, North America was buried by Bure to Bure. "It's actually pretty easy to play with him," Valeri said in the weekend's biggest understatement. "Every time you give him the puck, 99 percent it's a goal. I just tried to give him the puck. He always puts it in." Florida Panthers star Viktor Kozlov, who had three assists, played between them. It was the first time in nine years the Bures played on the same line for a full game. They were the eighth brother combination to play in the All-Star Game, the first since Peter and Marian Stastny were together in 1983. "It was just a special night for me," Pavel said. "I was playing with my brother. He set up two goals for me. He was on my line and he helped me get the MVP, so it was a special night." It was the first time since the NHL matched up the World and North American teams against one another that the World team won the in-season exhibition. The World Team had a 5-4 lead after two periods and Olaf Kolzig stopped all eight North American shots in the third. Sabres winger Miroslav Satan scored the eighth World goal when he redirected a pass over Mike Richter in the third period. Pavol Demitra scored twice. Jaromir Jagr, Dimitri Yushkevich and Radek Bonk also scored for the World Team. "I was kidding them (during a team meeting Saturday)," World Team coach Scott Bowman said. "I said, "I don't want to hear another word of Russian, Czech, Slovakian, Finnish, Swedish, German, French.' They looked at me, and I think they believed me for a second." Joe Sakic, Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte and Ray Whitney scored for North America. Three Florida Panthers - Pavel Bure, Kozlov and Whitney - combined for four goals and five assists. "It was a good showcase for Florida, which hasn't had a great reputation for the last couple years," Whitney said. "I'm sure management is happy with the way the guys performed." The game wasn't much different from previous All-Star Games. Neither team stressed defense, and six goaltenders did their best to avoid humiliation. The teams combined for 80 shots on goal, including 48 by World Team, and just one penalty was called. There were more Czechs than checks. The Europeans roughed up Maple Leafs goalie and fan favorite Curtis Joseph for three goals on 20 shots in grabbing a 3-2 lead in the first period and never trailed. CuJo made four spectacular saves that kept the game from getting out of hand early. The World Team pulled away in the third period with three goals against Richter over a two-minute span. Demitra scored his second goal after two perfect passes and a pretty feed from Milan Hejduk. Pavel Bure made it 7-4 when slammed in a rebound to complete the hat trick. Satan put the game out of reach and Bonk closed the scoring with 32 seconds remaining. "It was a lot of fun," Richter said. "The season is competitive and everyone is playing for a playoff spot. But when the weekend comes and everyone is here, we all seem to have a great time. We have some great memories."
Bure boys give mom unforgettable gift Tatiana Bure was beaming after the All Star Game. Son Pavel of the Florida Panthers had scored a hat trick, while his brother Val of the Calgary Flames had assisted on two of Pavel's goals. Her maternal pride matched the happiness of her two sons. They gave their vivacious mother, who'd flown over from Moscow just for the All Star Game, an unforgettable gift. "Im very happy to see my boys playing on the same line for the first time in 15 years," she said through an interpreter. "I remember them playing as boys and I never thought I'd see them together in the NHL." "Pavel's an electrifying player," Flames winger Valeri told a press conference afterward. "I'm his biggest fan. I end up watching him and doing a lot of standing when we play together. It's easy to play on his line." For his part, Pavel revealed how he'd tried to get his brother into the scoring column after he'd achieved his own hat trick. "I was telling him in the dressing room, go right to the post and shoot right away when I get you the puck. But he didn't do it." "Hey, younger brothers never listen," explained Valeri. Pavel, who won the game's MVP award, also revealed that he and his younger brother used to skate on frozen ponds back home -- just like the one pictured in Wayne Greztky's pre-game video. "Yeah, some days we'd go and skip school," he smiled. Which was news to his mother. "Skip school? I never knew that." Sometimes a mother is the last to know.
Pavel Bure takes spotlight as World wins NHL showcase People come from far and wide to see all-star competitions, no matter the sport. Pavel Bure's mother, Tatiana, traveled all the way from Russia to see her son play in the 50th NHL All-Star Game at Air Canada Centre. He made her long trip worth it, getting a hat trick and the MVP award yesterday as the World stars defeated the North American contingent, 9-4. "It was a special night for us," Bure, 28, said. "It just feels great to see your mom when you are getting something special. I am really happy she could make it." And World coach Scotty Bowman is really happy he played the Florida Panthers winger on a line with his brother, Valeri Bure, 25, of the Calgary Flames. They were centered by Viktor Kozlov, a teammate of Pavel Bure's in Florida. "It's so much a different game when you don't have checking, but I have always been a big admirer of him," Bowman said of Pavel Bure, who leads the NHL with 37 goals. "He doesn't need very many chances and doesn't need very much room." Oddly, none of Bure's goals was vintage Bure - flying down the ice, weaving the puck, deking, then scoring. Nope. His goals yesterday were all from a standing position. It was the 11th hat trick in all-star history. "My brother set up two goals for me," said Pavel Bure, who also had an assist in the game. "He was on my line and helped me get MVP, so it's just a special night." The six points for the Bure brothers were one more than the previous All-Star Game record for siblings, set by Maurice and Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens in 1958. The Bures had last played together for only a few shifts at the Nagano Olympics in 1998. Before that . . . "I think it was at the Red Army club," Valeri Bure said. "I was just getting to that level at [age] 16, and we had a chance to play on the same team." After a poignant opening video clip, featuring Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky passing the torch from one generation to the next, the opening period was flat. No emotion, no energy, players going through the motions. And no Pavel Bure, yet. The crowd had nothing to feed off because the players gave it nothing to be excited about. "The goal was to put on an entertaining game," Eric Lindros said. "At times, there was some lackadaisical play." A number of players, including Mark Messier, suggested afterward that the format should be changed to allow for better competition and bring back some hitting. Lindros' North American mates botched far too many chances early in the game. The World team - which, as Jaromir Jagr so aptly noted Saturday, has all the skill - scored its goals without much effort. "As far as the game is concerned, what can I say?" North American coach Pat Quinn said. "I hated the result. Lots of action. We missed some breakaway opportunities in the second [period], and I think just blame the forwards." Quinn was laughing. But he was right. In the middle period when the game could have gone either way, World goalie Tommy Salo stoned Ray Whitney twice, once on a breakaway, and even stopped Brendan Shanahan solo. Given all this frustration, Quinn was asked whether North American assistant coach Roger Neilson offered any help behind the bench. "He was enjoying the day, and he messed up the defense changes a couple of times," Quinn said, laughing again. The World led, 3-2, after one period. And it was close until midway through the second, when Pavel Bure scored his second goal for a 5-2 gap. He wasn't the only player getting a few goals in this one. St. Louis' Pavol Demitra, also of the World team, scored twice. "It's good any time you score any goal," Demitra said. "It's a bigger competition with the [North] Americans against the Europeans. We just had a little better luck putting the puck in the net. We got the lead, and we just kept scoring. "We have great guys here, great players. It's an unbelievable feeling playing with guys like that." Pavel Bure's goals came in an arc pattern around the net. A large arc. He notched one from the left circle and one from the right, and his third was in the crease. The first one was a tee shot that he just blasted past Martin Brodeur. The second goal, also against Brodeur, came from the right circle and didn't have as much spin on it. On Bure's final goal, in the third period, Mike Richter made a stop on Nicklas Lidstrom from the left circle, but the rebound went right onto Bure's stick in the crease. All Bure had to do was flip the puck in the air. None of these goals showed Bure's true strength - his skating. That wasn't a big deal to his younger brother. "I am his biggest fan," Valeri Bure said. "Sometimes, when I am watching him, I do a lot of standing. So today was one of those nights when I could actually play on the same line, and it was pretty easy. "Every time you give him the puck, it is 99 percent a goal. So, just try to give him the puck and go to the net." And hope Mother is there to see it.
Don Cherry conversation Every Monday night there is a radio show across Canada on the Telemedia Sports Network featuring Don Cherry and Brian Williams. On Monday, February 7, 2000, I phoned in on the radio show from Hamilton, Ontario, to talk about Pavel's performance at the All-Star Game this past weekend in Toronto, as well as his perseverance through injuries to become the best hockey player in the world. Here is the transcript of my conversation with Don Cherry and Brian Williams. I hope to provide an audio version of the conversation within the next few weeks.
Mathew: Good evening Don, how's it going?
Mathew: Um, First off, I wanna say that I am the biggest Pavel Bure fan in the world…
Mathew: Actually, Don, that's what I wanted to talk to you about - we all know he scored the two back-to-back sixty goal years in Vancouver, and then he goes and gets hurt, and everybody is on him - a guy with his talent - and they're saying that he was a fluke and that he'd never do it again - and he took his time, and he came back from two ACL reconstructions in the last four years, and of all the things people print about him, nobody ever really mentions how hard this guy worked at coming back, and he slowly came back and last night he showed that he's on top of the world, and I was just hoping that you'd tell people that this guy really does work for what he earns… He's a tough cookie out there and he's come back from a lot of adversity.
Brian: How about his younger brother?
Hockey in the homeland hears footsteps It's been a traumatic couple of weeks for hockey in the homeland. First Canada's federal government promised to help subsidize its six surviving NHL teams, then said it was only kidding. On Sunday, just before the puck dropped on the 50th All-Star game, Wayne Gretzky's farewell tour passed another milestone as his No. 99 was hoisted into the rafters. Then, to top it all off, the World team beat their guys at their game, 9-4, and inside their own building. It was one of those rare times when having America as an ally didn't count for much. "As far as the game is concerned, what can I say?" North American coach Pat Quinn said. "I hated the result. Lots of action." Quinn's summary is accurate and his lack of concern appropriate -- for the moment. This was an all-star game, after all, and despite the contrast in styles, not one of those where one side is intent on sending the other a message. "I don't think you can say who is better after this game," Slovakian Pavol Demitra grinned afterward, "but it was a lot of fun." There were some messages being sent, though, a theme that was established early and pounded home throughout the telecast. First came the video in which Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux, wearing overcoats, cross a snowy landscape toward a frozen pond. Awaiting them are Florida's Pavel Bure, Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr, Anaheim's Paul Kariya and Philadelphia's Eric Lindros. Instead of playing a pickup game, Gretzky grabs a stick, passes the puck -- and a figurative torch -- to his successors. A second later, Jagr taps his stick in tribute. A second after that, the others follow. There was no mistaking the message: The game remains in good hands. Bure did his level best to back up the spot by scoring three times and walking away with MVP honors. It didn't hurt, certainly, that he played on a line with younger brother Valeri, who has been setting up Pavel since they played hooky from school and hockey on a frozen pond in Moscow. But the 28-year-old, nicknamed "The Russian Rocket," felt that inspiration was at least as much a part of his special performance Sunday as was familiarity. "It wasn't just a commercial, it was something bigger. It's like history, it's like changing generations," he said. "It meant a lot to me." What remains to be seen is how much it meant to hockey fans in Canada, whose ties to the sport they gave birth to are a bundle of contradictions at the moment. Every memory that drives home the realization Gretzky is through playing is celebrated with a lump in the collective throat of the nation. His last goal, his last game, his induction into the Hall of Fame and Sunday, the first all-star game without him. It wasn't just Bure who had an inkling of the weight of the mantle that Gretzky's successors are supposed to shoulder. Jagr had a bad thumb and aching ribs and he could have ducked out on the weekend, saying he needed time off to heal. But then he showed up for an informal practice Saturday and peaked through the curtains at the crowd. This was for a 9 a.m. session, the day before the game. "I've never seen 18,000 people for practice," he recalled. "Never. They should play the game in Canada every year." In Toronto, maybe, where the Air Canada Centre was packed, or Montreal, where another deep-pocketed owner has no trouble playing high-stakes poker. But the four remaining Canadian teams -- the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators -- say they may not be around much longer without help. Senators owner Rod Bryden said he pays four times in taxes what his U.S. counterparts do -- in addition to losing $13 million because the Canadian dollar is worth only about two-thirds as much as the U.S. dollar. A tax bailout put together by the federal government to ease those burdens was submarined Jan. 21, when the uproar caused Parliament's ears to ring. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told Canadians there was only so much he could do to keep the moving vans from pulling more teams south across the border, but the warnings worked only so well. On Sunday, his league staged a show to remind a nation what it had -- Gretzky -- and what it increasingly is in danger of losing -- influence over a game it once owned, but one that is becoming more global by the minute.
Film clip the stuff of which legends are made Seven stars, one memorable film clip. The Legends on Ice film that opened ABC's All-Star game telecast Sunday was shot Friday on a very cold lake about 45 minutes from Toronto. The filming was initially expected to last two hours, but stretched to five partly because a TV news helicopter hovered overhead and disrupted the sound. In a clip meant to illustrate hockey's former stars passing the torch to its new generation, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux admire Jaromir Jagr, Paul Kariya, Eric Lindros and Pavel Bure as they play a pickup game. "We all had a tremendous time doing it," Gretzky said. ``For Gordie and I and Mario, we had a lot less work than the other guys; most of them played Thursday night and they had to fly in here early Friday morning. "They skated for about four or five hours and it was really cold. It was just nice to talk to all of them, to be around all of them and see the new guys, the young guys, and talk to them about the game today and listen to Gordie and Mario tell stories about hockey. All of us had a lot of fun." So did the sellout crowd in the Air Canada Centre, which gave the clip one f its loudest ovations of the day. I saw it before going out on the ice, and I said `Wow,'" St.Louis coach Joel Quenneville said. "It was a `wow' again when I saw it again on the big screen. I almost had a tear going down my cheek." Bure called it "little movie that would probably make history." INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE Two years ago, Teemu Selanne of Anaheim became the first European player to score a hat trick in the NHL All-Star game. It didn't take long for a second player to do it. Pavel Bure of Florida scored three, including two set up by younger brother Valeri, to win the MVP award, a new truck and lead the World team's 9-4 romp over North America in the 50th All-Star game Sunday. The combined six points by the Bures -- Pavel also had an assist -- were one more than the five in 1958 by Maurice and Henri Richard, the last set of brothers to combine on an All-Star goal. "It was just a special night for me," Pavel said. "I was playing with my brother. He set up two goals for me. He was on my line and he helped me to get MVP." Valeri was a little nervous beforehand because his wife, former TV sitcom star Candace Cameron, is expecting a child soon. To be on the safe side, the couple reserved a room in a Toronto hospital. "The baby hasn't come out yet, so everything is OK," Valeri said. BURE BLOOD There is bad blood between Florida star Pavel Bure and his father, Vladimir. The two have been estranged for several years, and the elder Bure has been critical of Pavel's relationship with Russian businessmen. But there clearly is something in the Bure blood that makes them exceptional athletes. Vladimir no longer works with Pavel or brother Valeri, but he continues to train some NHL players, including New Jesery rookie star Scott Gomez. And Vladimir is more than just another hockey father; he swam in three Olympics for the former Soviet Union in 1968, `72, and `76, winning one silver medal and three bronze medals. Vladimir, who was trained by his father, Valeri, took the bronze in the 100-meter freestyle -- a race won by Mark Spitz during his record sweep of seven gold medals.
Let the debate begin ... Let the Jagr-Bure debate begin. With 10 weeks remaining in the regular season, Florida's Pavel Bure seems to have emerged as Jaromir Jagr's top rival in the race for the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph also is in the mix. Jagr isn't accustomed to being overshadowed by anybody, but that was the case yesterday in the 50th NHL all-star game. On this day, the star was Bure, who scored three times and was named the game's MVP. Playing on a line with brother Valeri, Pavel's outstanding performance earned him a pickup truck. "That might be his first (truck)," Jagr said, jokingly. "He's got a few Ferraris. "There were two Russian Rockets out there. I'm just glad I didn't have to chase them." Jagr, who chipped in with a goal and assist for the World team, trails Bure by one (37-36) in the NHL regular-season goal-scoring race. "I'm not a goal scorer," Jagr said. "I look more to pass. I don't have his speed." Jagr not a goal scorer? Many shell-shocked goaltenders around the league would disagree.
Brother, they're good! Ray Whitney didn't like the looks of it. "They looked pretty good together. They sure threw the puck around pretty good. I sure hope he stays in Calgary." Whitney, Pavel Bure's normal linemate with the Florida Panthers, was watching Bure's brother Valeri of the Calgary Flames help make Pavel MVP of the 50th All-Star Game. Pavel ended up with the 11th all-star hat-trick in history as part of a four-point afternoon to lead the World to a 9-4 win over North America. The two combined for six points (Valeri had two assists) to become the first brothers to hook up for all-star points since Rocket and Henri Richard played together in the 1957 and 1958 All-Star Games. It was a 'hi mom' job by the Bure brothers. It was a special night for us because my mom, our mom, just flew in for a few days from Moscow,'' said Pavel, the Russian Rocket. "It is a pretty long trip, but she came here and it just feels great to see your mom when you are getting something special. I am really happy she could make it,'' he said of Tattiana Bure. GREAT HONOUR "Obviously it is a great honour for me to be MVP of an all-star game. It was just a special night for me. I was playing with my brother. He set up two goals for me. He was on my line and he helped me be MVP. It's just a special, special night." It wasn't so bad for the Russian Pocket Rocket, either. "You know, I don't think I can say much about my brother. He is a very electrifying player. He brings a lot of fans out of their seats. I am his biggest fan. Sometimes when I am watching, I am doing a lot of standing. So today was one of those nights when I could actually play on the same line. It is pretty easy to play with him,'' said Valeri. "Every time you give him the puck it is 99 per cent it is a goal. So I just try to give him the puck and go to the net, make it easier on me. He doesn't make that many mistakes. He always puts it in." SHOOT, DON'T PASS Pavel was telling his brother to shoot instead of pass to get himself a goal. Why didn't he listen to him. "You know. Younger brother never listen to older one," said Valeri. The younger Bure was asked about the last time the two had played together. "I don't know. We played just a little bit at the Olympic Games. We didn't really have a good shot at it. Before that, I think it was the Red Army club. He was a regular player for Red Army and I was just getting to that level at 16 years old and we had a chance to play on the same team." Also scoring for the World team, now 2-1 in the new all-star game format, were Pavol Demitra with two and Jaromir Jagr, Demitra Yushkevich, Miroslav Satan and Radek Bonk with one each. Whitney, Jeremy Roenick, Joe Sakic and Tony Amonte scored for the North American team. Mark Messier and Ray Bourque both had single assists to become co-holders of the all-star game record for most assists with 13 each. It was Bourque's 18th consecutive all-star game and the 14th of Messier's career. But it was the Brothers Bure who put their names on this game. "It's only one game," said World coach Scotty Bowman. "Too bad."
Bures Talk, and Play, a Great Game Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Bure, Paul Kariya and Eric Lindros spent most of Friday on a frozen pond an hour and a half from here, filming a television spot with Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. The segment served as an introduction to ABC's coverage of the 50th National Hockey League All-Star Game today. Its premise was simple: that this season, and this game in particular, represented a changing of the guard. Bure did not let the league down this afternoon. He recorded the 11th hat trick in All-Star Game history, with two assists coming from his brother, Valery. Pavel Bure's three goals led the World team to a 9-4 victory over North America at a sold-out Air Canada Center. It was the World team's first victory since the current format of the game was started three years ago. With his mother, Tatyana, watching from the stands while her sons played on the same line for the first time in North America, Pavel Bure of the Florida Panthers was selected the game's most valuable player. Pavel Bure, 28, leads the league with 37 goals, one more than Jagr, the Pittsburgh Penguin. Calgary's Valeri Bure, 25, has scored 28 goals, fifth most in the league. The younger Bure deferred to his brother and played left wing today on a line that was centered by their countryman Viktor Kozlov, who is Pavel's linemate in Florida. Pavel Bure (three goals and one assist), Valeri Bure (two assists) and Kozlov (three assists) combined for 9 points. There could have been more. "It was actually kind of a funny situation," Pavel Bure said. "After the second period, we were talking in the dressing room. I said: 'If we have a two on one, just go to the off post. I will give you a pass and you shoot it right away.' " The Panther right wing had already scored two goals in the second period and completed the hat trick midway through the final period when his words became reality. With three minutes left, the Bure brothers were skating on a two-on-one break against Rangers goaltender Mike Richter. But Valeri did not listen to his brother. Instead of shooting when given the puck, Valery tried to set Pavel up for a fourth goal. Philadelphia defenseman Eric Desjardins broke up the play. "You know," Valery Bure said afterward with a smile. "Younger brother never listen to older one." The Bure brothers did become the first siblings to team up on an All-Star Game goal since Maurice Richard and Henri Richard did so in the 1957 and 1958 games. Bure's nickname, the Russian Rocket, derives from Maurice Richard's, which is the Rocket. "Kind of fitting," said Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, who allowed Pavel Bure's two second-period goals. If the sport's symbolic torch had been passed from Gretzky to Jagr last April 18, when Jagr scored the game-winning goal in overtime at Madison Square Garden in Gretzky's final game, it might have been passed from Jagr to Bure here today, even though Jagr also had a goal and an assist.
Russian Rocket's red glare Oh, brother. O Canada. That was quite a show The Brothers Bure put on Sunday at the 50th NHL all-star game. Pavel, who's shooting for the Maurice Richard NHL scoring crown, was named the game's most valuable player and won a Dodge truck for his three goals in the 9-4 World all-stars win over North America. And nobody can say his little brother Valeri was merely along for the ride. He set up two of his brother's goals, the first time siblings have played on the same line and hooked up for a goal since the Rocket and Pocket Rocket in the late '50s. "We played a little bit together at the last Olympic Games, and before that when I was 16 years old and just joining the Red Army team," said Valeri. "But that's it." Too bad. "Pavel is a very electrifying player and brings a lot of fans out of their seats," Valeri added. "I'm his biggest fan by far sometimes I'm watching him when we play against him. I do a lot of standing around, but when you're on the same line, it's pretty easy. Every time you give him the puck it's 99 per cent that it's a goal," said Valeri. Valeri tried to feed Pavel on a 2-on-1 in the third period, for an exclamation point fourth goal, even though Pavel had told him to start shooting himself. "You know how it is É the younger brother never listens to the older one," joked Valeri. Pavel and Valeri's mother, Tatiana, flew in for the game and was beaming as her boys met the press. They weren't the whole story in the game. Blues' winger Pavol Demitra had two goals for the World team and Oiler goalie Tommy Salo was terrific in goal for them. But Tatiana's boys were the most interesting. "Our mom has been to Calgary or Montreal or Vancouver or Florida to see us on our individual teams, but not together," said Pavel. "This was a long trip for her, coming from Moscow. It was something special." "I hope his brother stays in Calgary from my point of view," kidded Ray Whitney, who normally plays the left side in Florida with Pavel Bure and fellow Russian Viktor Kozlov. Kozlov had three assists Sunday. This was probably the only time we'll see the Brothers Bure together in a North American rink. "I don't suppose he'll ever be a Calgary Flame unless he takes a pay cut," said Valeri. "Would I? Oh, yeah. Definitely," laughed Pavel, who makes $10 million a year playing for the Panthers, about 40 per cent of the total Flames payroll. So Whitney will probably get his regular linemate back when the Panthers play next. Even on his own, Whitney had a very good game in his first all-star appearance. He was stopped once on a breakaway by Tommy Salo, scored on a 15-footer on the Oiler goalie and fed Joe Sakic for a goalmouth tap-in. "I think I deked myself out when I was in alone; way too many moves," said Whitney, "but maybe I was just trying to help out the goalies' union with my dad Floyd (the Oilers' practice target) back in Edmonton." Whitney actually looked like he might have a shot at the Dodge truck that goes to the MVP early in the second. "Yeah, until Pavel got his two goals. Once he gets two, he always gets three," said Whitney, who settled for his two points. "Mess (Mark Messier) assisted on the goal, too É that was pretty fitting, growing up watching all those guys."(Whitney was an Oilers stick boy in the late '80s). He didn't attend to Messier's sticks much. "I pretty much left him alone; I didn't go near his stall very often," said Whitney, "but Gretzky was a different story. "Wayne would tell me to get four or five sticks ready every game. I remember four or five times I forgot to put out the sticks for him and he walked out to the bench without one. "He never once got mad at me." Gretzky was a good tipper, too. Like most players, he made sure the dressing room help got some extra dough. "I framed one of his cheques," said Whitney. "He gave me $100 for Christmas. When you're 14 years old, that's a lot of money. He never forgot me at Christmas or at the end of the year." Gretzky's '99' retired
Bure'd: 50th NHL All-Star game Canada is still learning to let go of Wayne Gretzky. Since the Great One retired in New York last April, the Great North has been preoccupied with witnessing the last rites of its national hockey hero. His last lap around the ice. His final farewell press conference. His early induction into the Hall of Fame. Gretzky gave another good-bye Sunday at the All-Star Game, and when the afternoon was over, although he hadn't played, he had transformed a plastic, over-hyped occasion into a transcendent moment. That the World team defeated North America, 9-4, meant nothing. Gretzky meant everything. Minutes before the opening face-off, the NHL -- holding its first All-Star Game without Gretzky since 1978 -- officially retired Gretzky's No. 99 league-wide. Banners were raised to the rafters. Kids wearing replicas of old Gretzky sweaters lined up on the ice. Air Canada Centre shook with excitement as the fans' favorite son stepped onto a red carpet and waved. "It was a special feeling," Gretzky said. Then came the video. It was a short, made-for-TV production filmed Friday, somewhere in rural Ontario, far from Toronto. "Where did we shoot it?" Gretzky said. "I don't even know. They took us in a car. It was about an hour and 25 minutes from here. That is where we were. So your guess is as good as mine as to where it was. We just drove. I thought we were going to have to get passports out at one point." On the huge scoreboard screen hanging above the ice, Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux appeared together, bundled up in coats. They represented Hockey's Past, and they were walking through a snowy landscape toward a frozen pond, a symbol of the game's roots. After trading a few memories of old glories, they reached the pond, where they found Hockey's Future. Florida's Pavel Bure, Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr, Anaheim's Paul Kariya and Philadelphia's Eric Lindros were waiting for them on the ice, wearing the sweaters of their teams. Hockey's Future asked Hockey's Past to play a little shinny. Hockey's Past took one look at what it would be up against ...and declined. Gretzky grabbed a stick, passed a puck to the players, and passed the torch. Jagr began tapping his stick on the ice in tribute. The others followed. Fade to black. At a time when the state of the sport is constantly discussed, the NHL's message was clear: The game is in good hands. "I think it was a great spot," Gretzky said. It was more than that. Much more. "Wow," said St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville, a World team assistant. "I almost had a tear going down my cheek." When the game began, the crowd was silent, funereal. Even when Dimitri Yushkevich of the hometown Maple Leafs scored at 14:35 of the first period for the World team, there was no noise. Everyone seemed sad. Gretzky was gone. But then came Bure. He scored 33 seconds into the second period. He scored again 8:05 later. On both goals, his brother, Calgary's Valeri Bure, earned an assist. The crowd started to stir. Bure scored once more, 9:31 into the third period, backhanding in a rebound from Wings defenseman Nick Lidstrom. When the game was over, he held the most valuable player trophy and the keys to a new car. The crowd roared. The fans had seen Hockey's Future, and it was good. Gretzky was gone. But his legacy would live on. "I felt like I was a part of hockey history," Bure said. "It meant a lot to me to be around those guys. It was a special day for me." And the sport.
Sibling revelry TORONTO -- Oh, brother! In a nutshell, that was Joel Quenneville's advice to Scotty Bowman before the 50th NHL All-Star Game at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday. Bowman, the Detroit Red Wings coach who guided a World team made up mostly of Europeans, elected to go with his assistant's suggestion that he use Pavel and Valeri Bure on the same line, and it paid off in a 9-4 rout of North America before a surprisingly subdued sellout crowd of 19,300. The game was billed as a return to hockey's roots. The contest was staged in hockey-crazed Canada, only a few blocks from storied Maple Leaf Gardens, where the first NHL All-Star Game was played in 1947. But this is a new era, and the contingent of Canadian and American players was no match for the highly skilled World group. The World squad took complete control of a game that was devoid of the neutral-zone traps and obstruction fouls that have caused most regular-season games to slow to a crawl. The North American players are more comfortable playing a physical style, and it showed. Pavel, who plays for the Florida Panthers, scored three goals and added an assist to win Most Valuable Player honors and a 2000 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab. Valeri, who skates for the Calgary Flames, delivered two assists. Panthers center Viktor Kozlov was the third member of the line, and he contributed three assists. "Too bad it is only for one game," Bowman said. "It's such a different game when you don't have the checking, but I have always been a big admirer of (Pavel). He doesn't need many chances, and he doesn't need much room." Quenneville, a former Colorado Avalanche assistant who coaches the St. Louis Blues, came up with the idea of teaming Pavel, 28, and Valeri, 25, at practice Saturday. Naturally, the brothers were thrilled with the idea. And pairing them together was an extra special treat for the brothers' mother, Tattiana, who was in attendance, along with Valeri's pregnant wife, Candace Cameron, who played D.J. Tanner on the television show Full House. "It was a special night for us because our mom just flew in for a few days from Moscow," Pavel said. "It is a pretty long trip, but she came here and it just feels great to see your mom when you are getting something special. I am really happy she could make it. "Obviously, it is a great honor for me to be the MVP. I was playing with my brother and he set up two goals for me. He was on my line and he helped me to get the MVP." Pavel and Valeri, who rank first and fifth in the NHL with 37 and 28 goals, respectively, last played together for Russia's silver medal-winning team at the Nagano Olympics in 1998. It didn't seem like it had been that long when Valeri fed Pavel for the first two goals of the second period and a 5-2 World advantage. Pavel scored at the 33-second mark against New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur -- Toronto's Curtis Joseph stopped 17 of 20 first-period shots for North America -- and collected his second of the game at 8:38 of the second. Valeri passed to Pavel in the right faceoff circle for a one-timer that beat Brodeur to the short side. Pavel completed the 11th hat trick in NHL All-Star Game history at 9:31 of the third period after New York Rangers goalie Mike Richter made a save on a shot by Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom. When the puck bounced off Richter's chest into the crease, Pavel swooped in and whacked it home. "He is a very electrifying player," Valeri said of his brother, who forced a trade from Vancouver last season during a bitter contract squabble. "He brings a lot of fans out of their seats. I am his biggest fan. Sometimes, when I am watching, I am doing a lot of standing. "So today was one of those days where I could actually play on the same line, and it is pretty easy to play with him. Every time you give him the puck, it is 99 percent (certain to result in) a goal." Pavel's World teammates tried to set him up for a fourth goal, which would have tied an NHL All-Star Game record. But he only took one more of his game-high eight shots after scoring the third goal. The brothers Bure worked a give-and-go in the late stages of the game, but it didn't work. Pavel had told Valeri after the second period that he would try to set him up for a goal, but Valeri passed it back when the opportunity arose. "He tried to get me the fourth goal," Pavel said.
Bure proves World's-and game's-best This hockey mecca celebrated the 50th staging of the NHL spectacle known as the All-Star Game on Sunday. And if the math, given that the first game was played in 1947, is tough to figure, join the club. Calculators were optional, but entirely welcome, for yet another display of offensive fireworks before a sellout crowd of 19,300 at the Air Canada Centre. When the glare from the red goal light faded, the World All-Stars, behind Pavel Bure's hat trick, defeated the North America All-Stars 9-4, posting their first victory in the three years under this format. Much has changed since the NHL All-Stars recorded a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens on Oct. 13, 1947. And much of it was glimpsed in the play of Bure, who earned most valuable player honors for his four-point game that showcased his astonishing skill in a forum full of dazzling talent. "He is a very electrifying player who brings a lot of fans out of their seats," said Valeri Bure, who assisted on two of his older brother's goals. "I am his biggest fan, and sometimes when I am watching, I do a lot of standing. But [Sunday] I played on the same line, and it is pretty easy. Every time you give him the puck, it is 99 percent that it is a goal." The Bure brothers hooked up on two goals in the first 8 minutes 38 seconds of the second period, welcoming Martin Brodeur to the festivities just 33 seconds into his goaltending stint. The second goal, a one-timer from the right circle, proved the game-winner as goals by Tony Amonte and Ray Whitney later in the second brought North America to within one goal, as close as it would get. The World All-Stars pulled away in a third-period blitz that victimized Mike Richter and featured goals by Pavol Demitra (his second), Pavel Bure (his third), Miroslav Satan and Radek Bonk. North America even had the audacity to fail to score in the third period. Credit goalie Olaf Kolzig for an eight-save shutout stint. "All the goaltenders made at least one for-sure-goal save," Brodeur said. "Sometimes that gets overlooked. But a game like this is for the [offensive] players to shine." Indeed. The teams combined for 81 shots, a good month for the Blackhawks. Only one penalty, a hooking minor on the World's Sandis Ozolinsh, got called and that was done dubiously and with a smile on referee Kerry Fraser's face. "The referee told me that he had to make the call," Ozolinsh said. "The game was going too fast, and the TV people called down." Ozolinsh smiled as he said this. There was a lot of that going on all weekend. "Now," said Jeremy Roenick, who recorded three of the check-free game's six hits, "we have to go back to our teams and be ridiculed by our teammates." Roenick was kidding, of course. It won't take another 50 years of All-Star Games for this loss to fade. In just five minutes, the outcome had been forgotten and winners and losers alike talked endlessly about the thrill of the game and the weekend, indeed a spectacle staged in hockey's hotbed.
Dead and Bure'd The Brothers Bure rocketed out of town in a prize truck last night, leaving skid marks all over the continent. Pavel Bure's hat trick and his brother Valeri's two assists sparked the World team to a 9-4 win over North America, bringing down the curtain on the National Hockey League's 50th all-star game. It was the World team's first win over North America in three tries. Brothers hadn't figured on the same goal since Henri Richard assisted on goals by Maurice Richard in 1957 and '58. Both Maurice Richard and Pavel Bure are nicknamed Rocket and the latter's 37 goals this season with the Florida Panthers have him first in line for the NHL scoring trophy that bears Richard's name. "He doesn't make many mistakes," the Calgary Flames' Valeri Bure said of the rare chance to set up his sibling. "He brings a lot of people out of their seats and I am his biggest fan." The worldwide telecast of the game, in front of a sellout crowd 19,300 at the Air Canada Centre, wrapped up a smorgasbord of Hogtown hockey events. It was the first all-star game in Toronto since 1968. "I was asked (by The Toronto Sun) who I thought would win the (MVP truck) and I predicted Pavel," said Dmitry Yushkevich, who had the best day of the four Maple Leafs involved in the game. The Bures represent the NHL's transition to the 21st century, but yesterday was a tribute to the eras of Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. They were featured with Bure, Eric Lindros, Jaromir Jagr and Paul Kariya in a touching pre-game video after Gretzky's all-star No. 99 was retired to the rafters. Possibly making their final all-star appearances yesterday were Ray Bourque and Mark Messier, each of whom picked up his 13th assist to pass Gretzky for top spot in this event. World coach Scotty Bowman, who also may be nearing retirement, made his 12th trip over five decades as an all-star coach and avenged a 1981 defeat at the hands of Pat Quinn, the coach yesterday of the North American squad. "It was (World team assistant coach) Joel Quenneville's idea to put the Bures together," Quinn said jokingly of the no-brainer. Asked what had motivated the World team after two close losses in 1998 and '99, Bowman kidded that he anglicized the multi-national team. "I said 'I know you've had all this diversity training, but as soon as I finish talking, I don't want to hear any Russian, Czech, Slovakian, Finnish or Swedish. I turned to Olaf Kolzig and said 'What are you?' He said 'German.' I said 'German, French, that's it.' They kind of believed me for a second." Eric Lindros credited the Europeans for driving to the net for rebounds, which led to first-period goals on home-town hero Curtis Joseph by Pavol Demitra and Jaromir Jagr. Yushkevich looked like Bobby Orr, picking up one goal and one assist. Jeremy Roenick was North America's most effective player, with three hits and a goal. World starting goalie Roman Turek was in contention for the truck until he put a clearing pass on to Mike Modano's stick that led to Roenick's goal. Viktor Kozlov, playing on a line with the Bures, had three assists. In 1989, long before Bowman came to the Red Wings, Pavel Bure's name came up on Detroit's checklist in the fifth round of the entry draft. Christer Rockstrom, the club's European scout urged the Wings brass to jump at Bure, but the team heeded an NHL warning to lay off because of eligibility hassles. Instead they took Sergei Fedorov 74th overall. The Vancouver Canucks took Bure 113th.
Pavel Bure's hat trick leads World All-Stars to win Toronto, Ontario (Sports Network) - Pavel Bure scored the 10th Hat Trick in NHL All-Star history and Olaf Kolzig pitched a shutout in the third period, stopping eight shots, as the World All-Stars won their first in three games under the new format, beating the North American All-Stars, 9-4, at the Air Canada Centre. North America had won the first two World vs. North America clashes by a combined 16-13 score. Bure, who also tallied an assist on a Dmitri Yushkevich goal, was awarded the game's MVP and was given a 2000 Dodge Dakota pickup truck. Surprisingly, neither team found the back of the net until just under 17:00 minutes remained in the opening period. The teams were continuing a series of end-to-end rushes, before Martin Rucinsky's shot hit the right post. The carom skittered back to Pavol Demitra, who snapped a wrist shot through Curtis Joseph's five hole for a 1-0 advantage. The teams played a furious style for the next 7:38, as there were no whistles or stoppages. Finally, the World team beat Joseph again, as Jaromir Jagr corralled a rebound in front of the North American netminder and shoveled the puck between his pads for a 2-0 lead. Rucinsky notched his second assist of the game on the play. The North American squad finally solved goaltender Roman Turek with 6:04 left in the first period, as Joe Sakic and Ray Whitney worked a perfect give-and-go, with the puck traveling from Sakic to Whitney, and back to Sakic. Sakic simply flicked the puck into the empty-net to cut the North American deficit in half. Less than one minute later however, defenseman Yushkevich gave the World team back its two-goal lead when he followed a Viktor Kozlov shot with a shot of his own. The puck squeezed past a somewhat shell-shocked Joseph at the 14:35 mark of the period. Turek contributed to the North American teams next goal, when his poor attempt at a clearing pass was intercepted by Mike Modano and promptly passed to Jeremy Roenick on the doorstep of Turek's net, with only 30-seconds remaining in the period. Roenick converted the chance and North America went into the first intermission trailing 3-2. Joseph finished with 17 saves in the first period, while Turek stopped 11. The Bure brothers opened the scoring early in the second period, as just 30-seconds in, Valeri hit Pavel, who beat a defenseless Martin Brodeur. The Bures hooked up again 8:08 later, as Valeri found Pavel again for Pavel's second tally of the game. North America got the two goals back before the second period was over however as Tony Amonte took a feed from Modano and blasted the disc past Tommy Salo at the 12:14 mark, and Whitney converted an Eric Desjardins pass at 17:08. Brodeur made 11 saves for North America in the second period, while Salo made nine saves for the World squad. North American goaltender Mike Richter appeared to have the World All-Stars in check early in the final period, but as the game entered its final 12 minutes the World caught fire. Demitra notched his second of the game at 8:52 of the third period, just 39-seconds before Bure completed his hat trick. Miroslav Satan extended the World All-Star lead to 8-4, 81-seconds later when he pushed a rebound home from the low slot. Radek Bonk finished the scoring for the World team when he took a perfect pass from Jagr and beat Richter with just 32-seconds left in the contest. Richter finished with 11 saves on 15 shots.
NHL All-Star game stats
World 9,
Faceoffs (won-lost) -- Sundin 6-4, Bonk 6-5, Kozlov 3-6, Demitra 3-8, Jagr 3-1. Hits -- Rucinsky 1. Takeaways -- Hejduk 1, Yushkevich 1, Satan 1. Giveaways -- Turek 3, Salo 1, Selanne 1, P.Bure 1, Sundin 2, Bonk 2, Ozolinsh 3, Rucinsky 1, Elias 3, Demitra 2, Jagr 2, Satan 1. Blocked shots -- Buzek 1, Hejduk 2, Svoboda 1, Rucinsky 1, Jagr 1Faceoffs (won-lost) -- Messier 3-3, Yzerman 7-4, Modano 2-6, Lindros 8-1, Sakic 4-7. Hits -- Chelios 1, Bourque 1, Roenick 3. Takeaways -- Stevens 1, Blake 1, Nolan 1, Shanahan 1, Whitney 1. Giveaways -- Brodeur 1, MacInnis 1, Stevens 1, Blake 1, Housley 2, Recchi 3, Messier 2, Nolan 2, Whitney 2, LeClair 5, Yzerman 1, Gomez 1, Chelios 1, Modano 1, Desjardins 2, Pronger 1, Sakic 1, Roenick 1. Blocked shots -- MacInnis 1, Stevens 2, Blake 1, Desjardins 1, Bourque 2, Lindros 1(On ice -- World: Demitra, Turek, Yushkevich, Elias, Svoboda, Hejduk. North America: Housley, Roenick, Joseph, Modano, Chelios, Amonte)(On ice -- World: Jagr, Turek, Yushkevich, Rucinsky, Bonk, Lidstrom. North America: Stevens, Joseph, Gomez, Messier, Recchi, Blake.)(On ice -- World: Turek, Satan, Zubov, Demitra, Czerkawski, Svoboda. North America: Sakic, Stevens, Joseph, Whitney, Recchi, Blake.)(On ice -- World: Yushkevich, Turek, Kozlov, V.Bure, P.Bure, Buzek. North America: Stevens, Sakic, Joseph, Whitney, Recchi, Blake.)(On ice -- World: Turek, Satan, Jagr, Yushkevich, Czerkawski, Lidstrom. North America: Roenick, Stevens, Joseph, Modano, Recchi, Blake.)(On ice -- World: P.Bure, Lidstrom, Salo, Numminen, Kozlov, V. Bure. North America: Housley, Sakic, Brodeur, Chelios, Whitney, Nolan.)(On ice -- World: P.Bure, Buzek, Salo, Kozlov, V.Bure, Ozolinsh. North America: MacInnis, Pronger, Brodeur, Gomez, LeClair, Messier.)(On ice -- World: Buzek, Salo, Numminen, Kapanen, Sundin, Selanne. North America: Amonte, Bourque, Desjardins, Brodeur, Modano, Shanahan.)(On ice -- World: Lidstrom, Yushkevich, Salo, Rucinsky, Hejduk, Sundin. North America: Whitney, Messier, Bourque, Desjardins, Brodeur, Gomez.)(On ice -- World: Demitra, Lidstrom, Kolzig, Elias, Hejduk, Ozolinsh. North America: Housley, Lindros, Richter, Chelios, Gomez, Whitney.)(On ice -- World: P.Bure, Lidstrom, Kolzig, Elias, Hejduk, Ozolinsh. North America: Housley, Lindros, Richter, Chelios, Gomez, Messier.)(On ice -- World: Satan, Bonk, Zubov, Kolzig, Czerkawski, Svoboda. North America: MacInnis, Sakic, Pronger, Richter, Shanahan, Kariya.)(On ice -- World: Bonk, Jagr, Zubov, Kolzig, Rucinsky, Ozolinsh. North America: Housley, Richter, Chelios, Yzerman, LeClair, Recchi.)Goaltenders (shots-saves) -- World: Turek (13-11), Salo (11-9), Kolzig (9-9); North America: Joseph (20-17), Brodeur (13-11), Richter (15-11)Referees -- Kerry Fraser, Don Koharski. Linesmen -- Gerard Gauthier, Ray Scapinello FIRST PERIOD
All-star results
All-star MVPs
Three goals
Bures make world of difference Scott Bowman smiled and shook his head when he considered the possibilities of coaching the Bure family on a regular basis. "Well, it's only for one game," the Detroit Red Wings coach said. "Too bad." But what a game it was for Pavel Bure and his younger brother Valeri, with proud mother Tatiana looking on at the Air Canada Centre. Pavel struck for three goals and an assist, while Valeri assisted on two of his goals to lead the World team to a 9-4 win over the North American team at the National Hockey League's all-star game. That brought Bowman, the head coach of the World team, his sixth all-star win, an NHL record. "He doesn't need very many chances or much room," Bowman said of Pavel Bure, who was selected as the game's most valuable player. Valeri echoed the coach's assessment. "My brother is a very electrifying player," he said. "He brings people out of their seats. When I watch him, I stand a lot. "It's very easy to play with him. Whenever I give him the puck he scores. He doesn't make too many mistakes." It was the first chance Valeri, who plays for the Calgary Flames, had to compete with Pavel since the 1998 Winter Olympics. They played together only briefly in Nagano, and before that had a short run with the Red Army team in their native Moscow nine years ago. But teamed with Pavel's Florida Panthers teammate Viktor Kozlov at centre, the Bure boys looked as if they had never been apart. They were the first siblings to combine for a goal at an NHL all-star game since Maurice and Henri Richard did it in the 1957 and 1958 games. "Yeah, I used to play with my brother all the time," Pavel said. "We had a frozen lake near our building in Moscow. Sometimes, instead of going to school we played hockey." They didn't always agree on strategy and still don't, judging by a two-on-one late in the third period. The brothers combined on a two-on-one break, with Pavel carrying the puck down the right side. He waited until Valeri was in scoring position on the left and then put the puck right on the tape of his stick. But little brother, hoping to give Pavel a fourth goal, passed the puck back. By that time, Pavel was too close to goaltender Mike Richter and couldn't get a shot away. "We talked after the second period and I said 'if we get a two-on-one you go to the hole, I'll pass and you shoot,' " Pavel Bure said. Yes, Valeri replied, but "you know the younger brother never listens to the older one."
Bure brothers lead the World The NHL's leading goal scorer in a game with little defense and fewer hits than Vanilla Ice . . . playing on the same line as his younger brother . . . centered by his countryman and regular center . . . NHL-sponsor FedEx should have just delivered the 2000 NHL All-Star Game MVP trophy to the home of Panthers right wing Pavel Bure. That would have saved Bure the trouble of coming to Toronto to rack up a hat trick and an assist on a game-high eight shots in the World All-Stars' 9-4 win Sunday. But, then, he wouldn't have gotten to wallow in Sunday's game, nirvana for a man who loves his brother, his mother and the open ice of an All-Star Game. Assisting on two of Pavel's goals, and nearly a third, was Calgary winger Valeri Bure as the family combined for six points, an All-Star Game record for brothers -- all in in front of their mother, Tatiana Bure. "It was a special night for us because my mom, our mom, just flew in for a few days from Moscow," Pavel said. "It's a pretty long trip, but she came here and it just feels great to see your mom when you're getting something special." Tatiana said through an interpreter, "From last night to early this morning, she was very nervous, but what she wanted to happen has been done." Pavel was also part of a big night for his hockey family. Nine points came from the Panthers line of Ray Whitney-Viktor Kozlov-Bure, the NHL's highest-scoring line. Kozlov, who has 15 of his career-high 36 assists this season on Bure goals, got two assists on Pavel goals and added an assist on Dmitri Yushkevich's goal. That's almost three All-Star Games' worth of scoring from a single franchise, appropriate considering the Panthers didn't have a player in the 1998 or 1999 All-Star Games, the first two years of the North America vs. The World format. This was the first game won by the World All-Stars. Whitney actually got the Panthers' first point of the night, an assist on Joe Sakic's first-period goal, and added a goal of his own in the second period. "That made up for the one I muffed on the breakaway," Whitney said. "It's always nice to score in your first All-Star Game. I don't know if I have a whole lot more in me." Asked if he was thinking MVP award at any point, Whitney said, "I was briefly until [Pavel] got two. You knew he was going to get one more. Whenever he gets two, he gets three." By the time the World's Rushing Russians got going, Whitney and Kozlov each had an assist, and Kozlov had been robbed by a snappy glove save during a one-on-one showdown with goalie Curtis Joseph. But 33 seconds into the second period, the Brothers Bure began turning the scoreboard over. Pavel chased down a rebound high in the World zone and shoved the puck up to Valeri in the neutral zone, then raced up to join the three-on-two. Valeri crossed the blue line along the right boards and dropped it to Pavel. Pavel glided to his left, then blasted a slapshot back to his right between Martin Brodeur's legs. They were back 8:05 later. This time, Valeri found Pavel with a circle-to-circle pass that Pavel one-timed home. "It is actually pretty easy to play with him," Valeri said. "Every time you give him the puck, there's a 99 percent chance it's a goal. So, just try to give him the puck and go to the net. He doesn't make that many mistakes. He always puts it in ." Pavel certainly does when he's on the doorstep and unchecked, a characteristic of an All-Star Game. That's where Pavel was when goalie Mike Richter flopped and dropped Niklas Lidstrom's left circle shot at 9:31 of the third. Actually, Pavel almost completed his hat trick at 15:29 of the second. Brodeur was down after making two lunging saves on Pavol Demitra when Pavel took a backhanded chop at the second rebound. After bouncing off Brodeur, the puck wobbled toward the goal line until defenseman Scott Stevens arrived to shove it back under Brodeur. On a late two-on-one, Valeri passed up his own shot to serve up what would have been Pavel's record-tying fourth goal. The pass skimmed off Pavel's stick, however, showing Valeri he should have done what his three years senior brother told him after the second period. Pavel had said, "If we have a two-on-one, just go to the off post. I will give you a pass and shoot it right away." Said Valeri: "You know, younger brother never listens to older one." This undoubtedly makes up for 1994, when Rangers goalie Mike Richter won the MVP mainly because he stopped Bure on three breakaways. Bure still jokes, "I put that truck in his garage."
Pavel Bure & Valeri Bure
Q. Pavel, after you scored your third goal, you guys had a give-and-go, you were working together. It got broken up. You had your arm around Valeri afterwards, were you telling him that he should have taken the shot? PAVEL BURE: After third goal? Q. After the third goal. PAVEL BURE: It is kind of funny situation because after second period we were talking in the dressing room, I said, "If we have 2 on 1, just go to the off post, I will give you a pass, and shoot it right away." But he tried to get me the fourth goal; that is why he gave it back to me. Q. Pavel, what does it mean to you to win this award? PAVEL BURE: Well, obviously it is a great honor for me to be MVP of All-Star Game. It was just special night for me. I was playing with my brother. He set up two goals for me. He was on my line and he helped me to get MVP, so it is just a special night. Q. Can you just talk about playing with Pavel and give us an update on the baby situation. VALERI BURE: Well, baby is still in. Hasn't come out yet. What about my brother? You know, I don't think I can say that much about him. He is a very electrifying player, brings a lot of fans out of their seats. I am his biggest fan sometimes when I am watching, I am doing a lot of standing. So today was one of those nights when I could actually play on the same line and it is actually pretty easy to play with him. Every time you give him the puck, it is 99% it is a goal. So just try to give him the puck and go to the net, make it easier on me. He doesn't make that many mistakes. He always puts it in. Q. Given the fact that he told you to shoot the puck before the period, why didn't you listen to him? VALERI BURE: You know, younger brother never listen to older one. (LAUGHTER). But, you know, I think it would be super special -- it is -- it doesn't get any better, he got MVP, three goals, it is nice if he got a fourth one, so it would be fun. Q. Pavel, could you talk a little bit about what it meant to you to be involved in the opening screen today with the three players yesterday and Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky? Also, can you tell us, have you ever skated, playing pond hockey as a kid out on a little lake like that growing up in Russia? PAVEL BURE: It meant a lot for me to be around those guys. I felt like I was a part of the hockey history when you see those legends like Wayne, Mario and Gordie. Just shooting this -- I don't think it was just a commercial. It was something bigger. It was something -- something that specific, a little movie would probably make history. It is like changing generations and it meant a lot to me. Second question, yeah, we used to play with my brother. We had frozen lake near our building and sometimes instead of going to school, we would go play hockey. Q. Could you talk about your mother being at the game today and how important it was, how special it was for both of you to play in front of her and when is the last time you did play in front of her? PAVEL BURE: Well, usually she comes to North America a few times during the season, comes to Calgary or goes to Montreal, Vancouver or Miami now. It was a special night for us because my mom, our mom, just flew in for a few days for three, four days from Moscow. It is a pretty long trip, but she came here and it just feels great to see your mom when you are getting something special. I am really happy she could make it. Q. What is your mother's name? PAVEL BURE: Tattiana. Q. When is the last time you guys skated on the same line? VALERI BURE: I don't know. We played just a little bit at the Olympic Games. We didn't really have a good shot at it. But that is the last time we probably were on the same ice together. Before that I think it was at the Red Army Club, he was player for Red Army. I was just getting to that level at 16 and we had a chance to play on the same team. Q. Do you think the torch has been passed like you were saying? You were saying the generation was switched, but do you think the torch has been passed to players like you and Jagr? PAVEL BURE: It is hard to talk about yourself, but I was around the great players like Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya, Jagr, and those guys won MVP few times, they are leading the League in points, and obviously they are really big superstars right now and that is the guys who supposed to promote the game and be the leaders not just the clubs but the NHL. Q. Yesterday Valeri said you might be playing together again if you were willing to take a pay cut, would you be willing to take a sacrifice like that? PAVEL BURE: Oh, yeah, definitely. Q. One of the things you talked about, the other generations of hockey players. One of the things those guys were known for; Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzsky, was selling the hockey game. Are you prepared as part of the next generation to make that sacrifice and really sell the game of hockey? PAVEL BURE: Well, first of all, I am not a businessman. In our days you have to kind of mix business plus hockey. I don't think anybody did more things for hockey than Wayne. He brought the hockey in the south of United States, to Calgary, to everywhere and he is still great, and so I think it is going to be really hard to compare our generation to guys like Wayne Gretzky. Q. Pavel, last two years Florida Panthers had no players in this game. Today three Florida Panthers had eight points together. Can you just talk about the statement that has made for the Panthers? PAVEL BURE: Always nice to see your teammates doing so well. Roy Whitney was playing really great. He got a goal, great setup. Kozlov was on our line, so he helped us a lot too. So it was great.
Bure brothers share line, memories When Pavel and Valeri Bure line up for the World Team in today's NHL All-Star game, their father Vladimir, won't even be watching. He'll be as far away from the television as he can get. Watching his two sons play hockey used to be the joy of his life. Now the spectacle only breaks his confused heart. "My boys . . . " Vladimir, close to tears and sitting on a couch in his modest west-side Vancouver townhouse, says. "I gave everything for my boys. It's like someone is trying to destroy my life. I don't understand. "I won't watch it. It's too painfull. Neither Pavel, 28, nor Valeri Bure, 25, has spoken to Vladimir since the fall of 1998. How ironic it seems. First the autumn change. And now this cold, bitter winter of their discontent. "I was dreaming even before they were born," continues Valdimir. The townhouse is tastefully but not extravagantly furnished. There are no keepsakes of Russia. The pictures of smiling boys in hockey gear. "Before they were born, I was just 19 and I was already dreaming. I would see my kids as Olympic champions. I didn't want them to be doctors or engineers or lawyers. I wanted them to be athletes. I spent all my life working with them but I don't feel appreciation from my kids. "When Pavel was having his operation (for torn knee ligaments) I asked the doctors if they could give him my ligaments." But when the Bure boys played for Russia in the Nagano Olympics in 1998, Vladimir did not witness the great moment. "they forgot to invite me to the Olympic Games. It was one of the most painful times in my life. When I saw on TV it's like I should be there and I'm here." To understand Vladimir Bure's pain you must first understand Vladimir. He was born in Norilsk, a Siberian gulag. His father, Valeri, had been sent there by the Stalinist government. Vladimir, a passionate and driven man, moved to Moscow at a young age. He became a swimmer. A very good one. He represented the Soviet Union in the 1968, '72 and '76 Games, winning a silver and three bronze medals. Asked now if he still has them, he says they're in Moscow where his ex-wife, the mother of Paveland Valeri still lives. She'll be at the All-Star game in Toronto. The boys are looking forward to it. But the fire that drove Vladimir Bure to out-swim the world also drove Vladimir Bure to make the sons the best they could be. Inthe end he probably drove them too hard. Pavel and Valeri must have their reasons for the silence. Vladimir says he has no idea what they are. "it's like drops of water on a stone," he says. "Eventually the stone breaks in half." Asked if he pushed too hard, Vladimir says: "It's a price. To be good, you don't pay money. It's hard work. No, if I didn't do it thenthey don't reach where they are. "Every father should understand me. I'm not a special father, I'm a normal father. "My friends, my mother,they know me and my sons . . . it's a shock for them too. Everybody knows how I love my sons." Vladimir re-married in 1993. He and wife Julia have a four-year-old daughter Katya. She is half-sister to Pavel and Valeri but they never write or talk to her either. "They know she's here but they don't care," says Vladimir when asked if they take any interest in her life. "Every day they hear how my life is but they don't care." Neither, apparently, do they have much time for their grandmother, Vladimir's mother. "She cries every day," he says. For Vladimir the boys are distant now, geographically and emotionally. Valeri stars with the Flames. Pavel stars with the Florida Panthers and makes $us8 million per year. He has an oceanside condo on Miami's South Beach. Vladimir talks occasionaly with Valeri's wife, actress Candace Cameron from the TV sitcom Full House. "I feel like she's very warm to me," he says. But he doesn't even have Pavel's phone number. His older son has become a mystery to the father. What he knows about Pavel now is what he hears from friends or reads in the paper. The news isn't always good. He doesn't have much to say about Pavel's associations with shady characters, including the alleged Russian gangster Anzor Kikalishvili. Vladimir told Sports Illustrated recently that Pavel's friends are "very bad." "I don't know if he's bad," says Vladimir now. "I can't tell Pavel how to choose his friends. I don't know if he's bad or good." As for Pavel's new flame, the beautiful Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova, Mr. Bure is clearer on that. "I don't know about Anna," he says with a laugh. "Anna looks good on TV. For me it's exciting." And as to why Pavel wanted out of Vancouver and demanded a trade from the Canucks? It's simple, he needed a change. "People say, the grass is greener," says Vladimir. "It was not because he didn't like Vancouver. He liked Vancouver. He's very emotional. He needs new blood in his body. Now he has new blood in his body and he's playing with new emotion." "He wanted to be in th eeast. There are lots of Russians there. He likes that." Vladimir now is worried that people will twist his words. Make him look bad. He says that happened once before. There's the story about how he slapped Pavel in the face at a sports memorabilia show. In Vladimir's version it was a little, almost playful, brush to the back of the head. A father-to-son gesture. And he did it when Pavel refused to get his picture taken with Valeri because Valeri hadn't made the NHL. Vladimir's business is training athletes and he is good at it. He's worked with Canuck Alexander Mogilny and former Canuck Gino Odjick. The townhouse is for sale. He's trying to get a work visa so he can move to Boston. Last summer he worked with five New Jersey Devils, including runaway rookie of the year candidate Scott Gomez and Vadim Sharifijanov. Though his sons make millions, Vladimir struggles. But he says this family problem isn't about money. And his dreams now aren't of Olympic medals or NHL stardom but of a greater prize ... reconciliation. "I dream of that. Every day I get up I wonder why this has happened. Every night I wonder why this has happened. "I have a wife. I have my little girl. But my two boys ... they are still in my heart."
Bure brothers share line, memories Valeri Bure broke across the blue line and curled a sharp backhand pass to Pavel Bure, who took one stride and blasted a low shot through the goalie's legs. Seconds later, they collided in a joyous hug. With the world's best hockey players trying to keep up, Pavel and Valeri Bure were just two brothers having fun Sunday in the 50th NHL All-Star Game. Pavel reached the high point of his fantastic season with the Most Valuable Player award after a four-point performance. His younger brother got a prize as well -- a rare chance to return, at least in spirit, to the Moscow ponds where they learned the game. Valeri assisted on Pavel's first two goals and later passed up a scoring chance to give Pavel a shot at a fourth goal. Their mother, Tatiana, watched from the stands as her sons played together for the first time since the 1998 Olympics and on the same line for the first time since their days with the Red Army team. Playing mostly on a line with his brother and Florida teammate Viktor Kozlov, Pavel Bure had three goals and an assist in leading the World Team to a 9-4 victory over North America. "That was the one combination we had in mind to play, because we thought they would have a chemistry together," World coach Scotty Bowman said. "I think we were right." Bure recorded the 11th hat trick in All-Star history and the first since Teemu Selanne did it for the World Team in Vancouver in 1998. "Obviously, it's a great honor," Bure said. "It was a special night for me because I was playing with my brother." Bure got his first goal 33 seconds into the second period. Valeri curled a backhand pass to his brother, and Pavel beat Martin Brodeur between the goalie's legs. Eight minutes later, Kozlov passed to Valeri, who sent a cross-ice pass to his brother that was one-timed into a nearly open net. Bure completed the hat trick by burying a rebound of Nicklas Lidstrom's shot in the third period. Pavel and Valeri were the eighth pair of brothers to play together in an All-Star game. Their instant chemistry proved their childhood games of pickup hockey hadn't been forgotten. "We had a frozen lake near our building, and sometimes instead of going to school, we would go play hockey," said Pavel. Late in the third period, the brothers broke in on goalie Mike Richter on a two-on-one. Pavel passed to Valeri, but the younger brother tried to give back the puck, and neither got off a shot. "It's kind of a funny situation, because after the second period we were talking in the dressing room," Pavel said. "I said, 'If we have a 2-on-1, just go to the off post. I will give you a pass, and shoot it right away.' But he tried to get me the fourth goal." "You know the younger brother never listens to the older one," Valeri laughed. With 61 points in 44 games, Pavel Bure is third in the league in scoring at the All-Star break. He leads the NHL with 37 goals -- a league-best nine of them game-winners -- and is second only to Jaromir Jagr in points per game. Florida's three All-Stars combined for nine points Sunday. Kozlov had three assists -- two on goals by Pavel Bure -- and Ray Whitney had a goal and an assist for North America. But before he gets back to the grind of the Panthers' season, Pavel Bure took the opportunity to relish the day he and his brother ruled the hockey world. "I won't forget this experience," Pavel said. "It will be one of the most special days of my career."
The brothers Bure steal the show Some teams had already thought they saw enough of the Bures this season, well, Sunday they saw even more of the most electrifying talent hockey has to offer. Pavel Bure has the Florida Panthers in first place in the Southeast Division with a league-leading 37 goals, while Valeri Bure has the Calgary Flames in surprising contention for a playoff berth in the Western Conference with his team-leading 28 goals. Sunday, the two played together for the first time since they were in the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, and Pavel led the World All-Stars to its first victory in the three years that the NHL has pitted the World stars vs. the North American stars, scoring three goals and adding one assist. Twice he was set up by younger brother, Valeri. In fact, the two could have combined for another goal, when they broke in alone on a 2-on-1 late in the third period but Valeri passed up a shot trying to help Pavel get his fourth goal. "After the second period I told Val if we got open that I would get him the puck," Pavel laughed. "You know younger brothers," he said of his chance to get an All-Star goal, "they never listen to the older one." By scoring the 11th hat trick in All-Star Game history, Pavel was named Most Valuable Player. "Too bad I only had them for one game," Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman said. "Pavel doesn’t need many chances or much room and Valeri is getting to be the same in Calgary." "Pavel’s always been a very electrifying player," Valeri said. "I had to watch myself for fear that I might stand around and watch him with my mouth wide open." What could the Bures do if they played one another on a regular basis? "Don’t even ask," St. Louis defenseman Al MacInnis said. "It would drive defensemen and goaltenders out of their minds. They both have that extra gear they shift into when they are heading to the net." New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur, who was victimized for two second-period goals by Pavel overheard the question to MacInnis and said, "It would be great for hockey. But I wouldn’t like it unless they were together in the other conference, so I wouldn’t have to face them too often." Boston defenseman said the way the Bures worked so well together reminded him of Peter, Anton and Marian Stastny, when they played together for the old Quebec Nordiques. "The talent must be in the genes," Bourque joked. What made the performance even better is that Pavel and Valeri’s mother, Tatanya, had traveled from Moscow to see her boys play in the same game for the first time in several years. "I’ve never seen them both so happy," Tatanya said through an interpreter. . . .
It's Bure-fic! The World used a Russian Rocket to bomb North America at the 50th NHL all-star game on Sunday. Pavel Bure scored three goals and had an assist to lead the World team to a 9-4 rout of North America. Valeri Bure of the Calgary Flames assisted on two of his older brother's goals.
Except for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, the Bures had not played together since their days with the once-famous Red Army team. Valeri joined the Russian team at age 16, when Pavel already was a star. "There's not much I can say about him," said Valeri Bure, who tried to set up Pavel for a record-tying fourth goal late in the game. "He's an electrifying player. "He brings fans out of their seats." Bure's hat trick was the 11th in all-star history, but the fourth in four years in a game that has increasingly emphasized offence, with an average of 16 goals scored over the last 10 years. The announced crowd of 19,300 at the Air Canada Centre mostly sat in stony silence as the NHL's best Europeans outshot the home side 48-32 in the league's annual low-intensity scrimmage. German native Olaf Kolzig shut out North America in the third period and Sweden's Tommy Salo stopped three breakaways in the second to help the World beat North America for the first time in three tries since the Us versus Them format was adopted in 1998. Another key was that North America mustered few chances during the only power play of the game after Colorado's Sandis Ozolinsh was sent off for hooking at 5:51 of the third period. "Just blame the forwards," joked North America coach Pat Quinn of Toronto. "The guys were having fun, but they're competitive. They wanted to get out there." Bure beat New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur twice in the second period and added another when the World put four pucks by the New York Rangers' Mike Richter in the third. Pavol Demitra of the St. Louis Blues had two goals while Jaromir Jagr, Dimitri Yushkevich, Miroslav Satan and Radek Bonk also scored for the World. Joe Sakic, Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte and Ray Whitney scored for North America. The Yushkevich goal on a high shot from the slot during a rush was particularly galling for Quinn, Yushkevich's coach with the Maple Leafs, as it came against Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph at 14:35 of the first period. "I spent two years trying to get him to play his position," Quinn said in mock anger. "Now that he got a goal up there (in the attacking zone), I don't know what will happen." "I can't score on him in practice, so I had to get one today," Yushkevich said, prompting Joseph to reply: "He made a desperation move. You don't see that often, but it went through my glove." The lighthearted mood mirrored the play on the ice, where turnovers and giveaways ruled and only six hits were registered in the official statistics, including three by Roenick and only one by a World team player, Montreal's Martin Rucinsky. "This is so much fun," said Demitra. "There is no hitting. Everybody is just trying to make nice moves and playing one-on-one." "I'm not saying you don't care," added Jagr. "But it's not a big deal if you make a bad pass. That's why you're able to try to make special plays." World goalie Roman Turek had another perspective: "This is a bit different from a regular season game. The goaltenders are very busy and there are more goals, so I think the fans like it." "It's a different game when you don't have checking," observed winning coach Scotty Bowman of the Detroit Red Wings. The 66-year-old Bowman coached his first all-star game in the late 1960s when some players actually took the game seriously in an east versus west division format just after the league expanded from six to 12 teams. "It was more competitive then," said Bowman, who coached in his 12th all-star game. "Not like now. I remember in Montreal (in 1993) it was 16-6. "But this format is as close as you'll get to having two different styles in the game." Joseph was peppered with 20 shots and was beaten three times in the first period. Brodeur let in two goals on 13 shots and Richter let in four of one. For the World, Turek, replacing the injured Dominik Hasek, was beaten twice on 13 shots while Salo let in two of 11. Boston veteran Ray Bourque, who tied Wayne Gretzky's record by playing in an 18th consecutive all-star game, had one assist. Gretzky, who retired last spring, got the day's loudest ovation when he dropped the puck in the ceremonial face-off.
Bure is star of All-Stars Valeri Bure had seen his brother do it so often that it left him unmoved. Three goals? As a kid, playing on the frozen lake outside their apartment building in Moscow instead of going to school. As a member of the Red Army team. On Sunday, in the 50th NHL All-Star Game. "He plays like this in Florida all the time," Bure said of brother Pavel, whose hat trick earned the Panthers' star the game's MVP award and powered the World All-Stars to a 9-4 win over the North American team at the Air Canada Centre. "I don't think he played so differently than usual." The Brothers Bure are separated by three years -- Pavel being the elder at 28 -- and by geography. Pavel plays in Sunrise and leads the NHL with 37 goals. Valeri is having a breakthrough season at Calgary with 28 goals and 52 points. They were separated by a few feet of ice early in the second period when Valeri sent a backhand pass his brother's way, then watched Pavel score past New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur, who had been on the ice for 33 seconds. Just more than eight minutes later, the same combination clicked for a 5-2 World lead, enough, as it turned out. Bure's third goal was mere window dressing, coming in the final period and serving to make certain any MVP doubts were removed. Nicklas Lidstrom assisted, helping embellish his somewhat ostentatious title of Captain of the World. Helping his brother was special for the younger Bure. "Assisting on your brother's goals, it doesn't get better than that," said Valeri, who combined with Pavel for six points, a record for brothers in the game, one point better than that of the brothers Richard, Maurice and Henri, in 1957 and '58. Well, how about your brother assisting on your goals? "Maybe next game," he said laughing. Not that Pavel didn't try. With three minutes to play, they sailed down the ice on a two-on-one and Big Brother sent the puck to the Kid, who was bearing down on goalie Mike Richter of the New York Rangers and ... passed it back. "It is a kind of a funny situation because after the second period we were talking in the dressing room," Pavel said. "I told him, 'If we have a two-on-one, just go to the off post. I will give you a pass, and shoot it right away.' " But Valeri has a sense of history. Four goals, and all that. Besides, "you know, younger brother never listens to older one," Valeri said. Their mother, Tatyana, was in town from Moscow and can probably testify to that. The World All-Stars won for the first time in the three years of this format and were coached by Detroit's Scotty Bowman, who held a Saturday meeting and referred to some of the locker-room education the NHL has been administering all season. Said Bowman: "I said, 'I know you have had all this diversity training, but ... as soon as I finish talking, I don't want to hear another word of Russian, Czech, Slovak, Finnish, Swedish -- I turned to (goalie Olaf) Kolzig. I said, 'What are you?' He said, 'German.' German, French, that's it." Bowman added that he was kidding the troops. "They looked at me and I think they kind of believed me for about a second," he said, grinning. Languages notwithstanding, Bowman used nationalistic fervor to the World's advantage, having Russian Viktor Kozlov, like Pavel a Panther, center the line with the Bure brothers; using a Czech line of Pavol Demitra (St. Louis), Martin Rucinsky (Montreal) and Milan Hejduk (Colorado) and using Scandinavians Mats Sundin (Toronto), Teemu Selanne (Mighty Ducks) and Sami Kapanen (Carolina) as a unit. "This is what they do in that room," said Bowman, pointing back to the dressing room. "They all have their friends and they talk together. Naturally, they are going to be comfortable with their own people." It apparently worked, in part because of the Bure brothers. "I don't think I can say that much about him," said Valeri, who then went on to say plenty about his brother. "He is a very electrifying player, brings a lot of fans out of their seats. I am his biggest fan and sometimes when I am watching, I am doing a lot of standing." On Sunday, he was standing close. "I was playing with my brother," Pavel said. "He set up two goals for me. "He was on my line and he helped me to get MVP, so it is just a special night."
Hip Hip Bure Not since Feodor Dostoyevsky created the Brothers Karamazov has there been such a famous pair of Russian brothers. At least that's the impression in the bowels of the Air Canada Centre as reporters swarm around Pavel and Valeri Bure, the Russian Rocket and his Soyuz sibling from Calgary. The charismatic pair are the top attraction for this year's All Star World Team, standing side by side beneath their jerseys this Saturday morning. At 5-foot-10, the men are dwarfed behind a wall of media. Anyone interested in hearing from the first Russian brothers to play on the same NHL All-Star team must burrow into a motley scrum of cameras, recorders and reporters surrounding them. There, at the centre of a pool of TV light, stand men as different as the cities they represent. Pavel, from Miami, is a fluorescent flash of intrigue and excitement, a tempermental maestro linked to tennis star Anna Kournikova and alleged Russian mafia members. Valeri, from Calgary, is as sunny and clear as the Prairie sunshine, a late-blooming star without any of the trappings of stardom, save his actress/ wife Candace Cameron (of Full House fame). On this morning, Pavel is bored and largely unforthcoming to the reporters assembled for All Star Week. When someone asks him if he's happy with his current 36 goals, the leather-coated Panthers star replies, "36 goals . . . you're a little bit behind, it's 37 . . . lucky he's not counting my bonuses . . ." Then after a tight laugh. "So what's your question?" In the scrum next door, Valeri is happily chirping about his coach Brian Sutter. "If you're not doing your job, Brian's so honest and straight-out he's going to tell you you're playing bad . . . but in very different words (a nervous laugh here from Valeri). That's what makes him so good, that he's honest." When you stand back for a moment, it's a remarkable journey that has brought them here together, half a world away from their upbringing in Moscow. Pavel was always the gifted child, touted for NHL greatness from the moment he defected from the old USSR. But injuries and the controversial trade from Vancouver have obscured his claim to the No. 1 spot in the post-Gretzky NHL. Valeri was the afterthought, discarded by Montreal after starring in the CHL, lost in Calgary until the exit of Theo Fleury. Then, as if a wand had been waved, he became the Flames franchise player almost overnight. Like all younger brothers, the 25-year-old Valeri hasn't borne the weight of the expectations that faced Pavel his whole career; his candour is an outgrowth of that enviable position. Pavel, too, can be open and genuine, but after his buffeting in the media lately (CBC and PBS practically had him running the Russian mafia earlier this season, a new book inflicted more wounds) he needs the protection of familiar people. A conversation at a Toronto hotel a few nights earlier reveals a funny, engaging character that the public rarely sees. And his genuine pride at seeing the little brother who is making it on his own terms. But the leading goal scorer in the NHL gives only small samples of that filial feeling in the madness of media day for the All Star Game. "Most of the time he was hanging around with our team . . . at that time nobody compared him to me because he was three years younger, that's a big difference when you're a kid. I wished the coach would give him a break because he was much smaller. It was nice to have him there." Then, a sudden stop. Dead air that begs another question. Next door, Valeri is less reticent about growing up in the shadow of a hockey prodigy. "I will probably always be in my brother's shadow. He's one of the biggest stars in the National Hockey League . . . it's going to be tough to overcome that. But when you live in the shadow of one of the best, it's not so bad." The younger Bure constantly keeps in touch with his footloose brother during and after the season. "We don't get to spend a lot of time, because in the offseason I live in L.A., and he lives in Moscow or wherever he might decide -- you never know, he changes all the time. "So to spend a couple of days together during the season is really nice." The night before, Valeri's wife Candace (who's due to deliver the couple's second child in two weeks) flew in from Los Angeles to take part in the family reunion, while the boys' mother arrived from Russia to bask in the glow of her sons' achievements. "I can see it in her eyes how happy she is," says Valeri. Only the absence of the boys father Vladimir, a former Olympic swimmer who is currently estranged from his sons, keeps the picture incomplete. What must also please their doting mother is that while her sons play the same position and are roughly the same size (Pavel has about 20 pounds on his brother), they have forged distinct hockey personalities. "He's a really good all-around player defensively," says Pavel, who's never been accused of over-emphasizing that aspect of the game. "Plus he's almost got 30 goals already, so obviously he can do everything."
Bure brothers lead World over North America 9-4 With Wayne Gretzky in street clothes instead of a hockey uniform, Jaromir Jagr was confident he and his fellow Europeans might win the 50th NHL all-star game Sunday. Gretzky, who was honoured in a pre-game tribute that saw a banner raised to the Air Canada Centre ceiling to signify his No. 99 has been retired throughout the league, had helped beat the Europeans the first two years the World-North America format was used. This time, retired and in the Hockey Hall of Fame, he took a seat and watched. "It helped us that Wayne Gretzky wasn't out there," Jagr, the Pittsburgh Penguins star, said after the World's 9-4 victory. "When I didn't see Gretzky, I thought, 'We have a chance to win.' "When he was there in the past, we didn't have this chance." Al MacInnis of the St. Louis Blues, a 10-time teammate of Gretzky's in all-star games, also missed The Great One. "There was definitely a difference without Wayne," MacInnis said. "It was nice to see the tribute the NHL gave him, but it would have been nice to have him on the ice, too." Pavel Bure of the Florida Panthers was named most valuable player after scoring three goals and assisting on another. He became only the second European - Teemu Selanne of Anaheim in 1998 was the other - to be named MVP of the all-star game. Kid brother Valeri Bure of the Calgary Flames had two assists, and the Bures became the first brother combination since Montreal's Maurice and Henri Richard to hook up for an all-star goal. The Richards combined in the 1957 and 1958 games. "He is a very electrifying player, brings a lot of fans out of their seats," Valeri Bure said of his big brother. "I am his biggest fan. "Every time you give him the puck, 99 per cent it is a goal." Well, not quite. It took him eight shots to get his three goals. But he was, far and away, the most dangerous sniper on the ice in a showcase game with, typically, fewer hits than stoppages in play for TV ads. "It was special for me to play on a line with my brother," Pavel Bure said. "He set up two goals for me and helped me be the MVP, so it is a special night. Pavol Demitra of the Blues, with two goals, Jagr, Dimitri Yushkevich of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Miroslav Satan of the Buffalo Sabres and Radek Bonk of the Ottawa Senators also scored for the World, which outshot the North Americans 48-32. "We just had a little better luck putting the puck in the net," Demitra said. "We got the lead and we just kept scoring. "We have great players. It's an unbelievable feeling playing with guys like that." Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, Jeremy Roenick of the Phoenix Coyotes, Tony Amonte of the Chicago Blackhawks and Ray Whitney of the Panthers scored for North America. "I hated the result," said Pat Quinn, who for the only time this season didn't mind being a losing coach. "We missed some breakaway opportunities in the second period. Just blame the forwards," he added with a wide grin. Quinn was alluding to missed breakaway chances by Detroit's Brendan Shanahan and Whitney early in the second period with the World up 5-2. Edmonton's Tommy Salo foiled both attempts. Amonte and Whitney scored before the period ended, but that was it for North America. Washington's Olaf Kolzig took over from Salo for the third period, the World scored four unanswered goals, and Kolzig became the first goalie in 18 years to blank the opposition in a third period of an all-star game. "I was sweating bullets," Kolzig said of taking over with a one-goal lead. "I didn't want to be the scapegoat for losing." A capacity crowd of 19,300 made little noise outside of when goals were scored. Only six hits were registered. "It's more of an exhibition," Jagr said. "I'm not saying you don't care, but it's not a big deal if you make a bad pass. That's why you are able to try to make special plays." "The most fun is to be around here with the best players and to be a part of the week, especially here in Toronto where hockey is so big," Selanne said. "It was great to watch the other guys." Gretzky watched, too. "Oh, I don't think it's gone too corporate," Gretzky replied when asked to analyse the league's showcase game. "That is just the changing of the times. "That is just the system we live under now. My goodness, 20 years ago, nobody listened to talk radio . . . and that is all anyone listens to now. We are on in 137 countries, worldwide. I mean, that is just the progression that the whole world is in, not just the game of hockey. "It is a game where guys can come and show their skills off, guys like Pavel Bure and Jagr. That is what it is all about. You can't look at it as a Game 7 because it is never going to be that way." Not when figure skaters are brought on to do pre-game backflips, and when players are waving from the bench to family in the crowd. The players now return to their respective teams for the resumption of the schedule on Tuesday. Let the real games begin. First Period 1. World, Demitra (Yushkevich, Elias) 3:12 2. World, Jagr (Rucinsky) 10:50 3. North America, Sakic (Whitney, Recchi) 13:56 4. World, Yushkevich (Kozlov, P. Bure) 14:35 5. North America, Roenick (Modano) 19:30. Penalties - None.
6. World, P. Bure (V. Bure) 0:33 7. World, P.Bure (V. Bure, Kozlov) 8:38 8. North America, Amonte (Modano, Bourque) 12:14 9. North America, Whitney (Desjardins, Messier) 17:08 Penalties - None.
10. World, Demitra (Hejduk, Elias) 8:52 11. World, P. Bure (Lidstrom, Kozlov) 9:31 12. World, Satan (Czerkawski, Bonk) 10:51 13. World, Bonk (Jagr, Rucinsky) 19:28 Penalties - Ozolinsh Wor (hooking) 5:51.
World 20 13 15-48 North America 12 11 9-32 Goal (shots-saves) - World: Turek (13-11), Salo (11-9), Kolzig (9-9); North America: Joseph (20-17), Brodeur (13-11), Richter (15-11). Power plays (goals-chances) - World: 0-0; North America: 0-1. Referees - Kerry Fraser, Don Koharski. Linesmen - Gerard Gauthier, Ray Scapinello. Attendance - 19,300.
First Period 1. World, Demitra (Yushkevich, Elias ) 3:12. After goaltender Curtis Joseph's superb pad save on Maple Leafs teammate Dimitry Yushkevich, Pavol Demitra slammed home the rebound from the left of the net. 2. World, Jagr (Rucinsky) 10:50. Jaromir Jagr escaped a check from Scott Stevens and banged a rebound in the crease between Joseph's legs. Martin Rucinsky took the initial shot. 3. North America, Sakic (Whitney, Recchi) 13:56. Joe Sakic gets the easy end of beautiful three-way passing play and beats Roman Turek. Mark Recchi sped into the zone on his off-wing and sent a cross-ice backhand pass to Ray Whitney, who sent a one-time pass to wide-open Sakic. 4. World, Yushkevich (V. Kozlov, P. Bure) 14:35. Yushkevich, pinching in from the point, takes a pass from Viktor Kozlov, uses Stevens as a screen and knifes a wrist shot between Joseph's legs - one Joseph would want back. 5. North America, Roenick (Modano) 19:30. Mike Modano intercepts Turek's clearing attempt at the blue-line, sends a backhand pass to Jeremy Roenick at the side of the net. The Coyotes forward sends a weak wrist shot through Turek's five-hole. Shots - World outshot North American 20-13 with Joseph making spectacular saves on Pavel Bure and Kozlov. Second Period 6. World, P. Bure (V. Bure) 0:33. Valeri Bure skates into offensive zone and drops a backhand pass to brother Pavel near the blue-line. The Russian Rocket hammers slapshot between Martin Brodeur's legs. 7. World, P. Bure 2 (V. Bure, V. Kozlov) 8:38. Once again, the younger Bure finds brother Pavel at the top of the left faceoff circle. Pavel one-times a slapshot that eludes an outstretched Brodeur caught out of position. 8. North America, Amonte (Modano, Bourque) 12:14. Modano circles behind the net and spots Tony Amonte in front. Amonte snaps a shot into over a sprawled Salo. 9. North America, Whitney (Desjardins, Messier) 17:08. Ray Whitney slaps a bouncing puck from top of the circle into an empty net because Salo was entangled with Mark Messier and out of position. Shots - World outshot North America 13-11 with Salo making several outstanding saves early in the period before giving up two goals. Third Period 10. World, Demitra 2 (Hejduk, Elias) 8:52. Pavol Demitra finishes pretty three-way passing play. Patrik Elias passes to Milan Hejduk who then deftly dishes across the crease to wide-open Demitra. The Blues winger snaps it past an outstretched Mike Richter. 11. World, P. Bure 3 (Lidstrom, V. Kozlov) 9:31. The Russian Rocket completes the hat trick by banging a goal-crease rebound past a helpless Richter. Nicklas Lidstrom took the wrist shot from the top of faceoff circle. 12. World, Satan (Czerkawski, Bonk) 10:51. Miro Satan taps a goal-crease pass from Mariusz Czerkawksi past a sliding Richter. 13. World, Bonk (Jagr, Rucinsky) 19:28. Jagr, from the left-side boards, spots a streaking and wide-open Radek Bonk. The Senators centre one-times it behind Richter. Shots - World outshot North America 15-8 as Olaf Kolzig posts the 20-minute shutout for the World team. Overall, World outshot North America 48-32.
Bure brothers, World whip North America Three goals, two brothers, one special moment in a game that, for a change, was something more than an unexciting shootout. "That's why I got MVP, he set me up a lot," Pavel Bure said, nudging a brother who has been his teammate only several times since their days together with the Red Army team. During their youth, the Bures sometimes skipped school to play on a frozen lake, much like the one depicted in the ABC film clip that drew a huge ovation inside a jam-packed Air Canada Centre. In the short film, Gretzky, Lemieux and Howe trek to a remote pond for some pickup hockey, only to discover Bure, Jaromir Jagr, Paul Kariya and Eric Lindros already playing. The retired stars cede the pond to the new generation, who respond by tapping their sticks in the traditional hockey player's show of respect. "It wasn't just a commercial, it was something bigger. It's like history, it's like changing generations. It meant a lot to me," said Pavel Bure, the Russian Rocket who leads the NHL with 36 goals for Florida. Like always, Pavel was the scorer and Valeri was the playmaker as they combined for six points, one more than brothers Maurice and Henri Richard had in 1958. The Bures are the 12th set of brothers to play in the game. Their mother, Tattiana, proudly watched on, as did Valeri's wife, former TV sitcom star Candace Cameron, who is expecting a child any day now. "I'm his biggest fan," said Valeri Bure, who often talked with Pavel of playing together in the NHL. "It's easy to play with him, 99 percent of time give him the puck he scores a goal." The Bure brothers nearly connected for another goal in a four-goal World third period, but Valeri disobeyed big brother's instructions by passing up an open shot to try to feed Pavel again. "Younger brother never listens to (the) older one," said Valeri, who plays for Calgary and insists he would take less pay to play alongside Pavel in Florida. "I thought it would be even better if he got a fourth goal." Bure's hat trick was the 11th in All-Star history and the fourth in four years in a game that has increasingly emphasized offense, with an average of 16 goals over the last 10 years. That's what made World goaltender Olaf Kolzig's shutout third period so unusual. He faced eight shots and stopped them all as the World kept building on the 5-4 lead it held entering the period. "We got some great goaltending," said Detroit's Scotty Bowman, who coached in an All-Star game for an unprecedented fifth decade. "He (Kolzig) made some tough saves and really distinguished himself out there." Pavol Demitra of St. Louis scored his second goal and Miroslav Satan of Buffalo and Radek Bonk of Ottawa also scored in the four-goal period against Mike Richter, the only goaltender not to allow a goal in Saturday night's skills competition. The five-goal decision followed close victories by North America, 8-6 in 1999 and 8-7 in 1988, in the first two All-Star games played under the present format. In a game where defense is an afterthought and hitting is totally forgotten as players guard against injuries, hometown goaltender Curtis Joseph of the Maple Leafs made 20 saves for North America in a busy first period, yet still trailed 3-2. With icings waved off and the play constantly flowing from end-to-end with no checking or face-offs to interfere, it took only 11 minutes to play the first nine minutes of clock time -- an unheard of pace for a regular-season game. The first and only penalty wasn't assessed until 5:51 of the third period, when Colorado's Sandis Ozolinsh of the World team was called for hooking. St. Louis goaltender Roman Turek, initially left off the World team despite owning better statistics than Tommy Salo of Edmonton or Kolzig of Washington, started for the injured Dominik Hasek of Buffalo and was outstanding despite yielding goals to Joe Sakic and Jeremy Roenick. Turek stopped breakaways by Whitney and Owen Nolan, giving his World teammates time to open a 2-0 lead on goals by Demitra at 3:12 and NHL scoring leader Jaromir Jagr of Pittsburgh at 10:50. A total of nine players scored goals. "A lot of action, a lot of shots," Turek said of the almost nonstop up-and-down flow. "I think it's more like European hockey." And, right now, European hockey is king, as evidenced by the Czech Republic's gold in the 1998 Olympics, when Canada and the United States didn't medal. Many of those Czech players, including Turek and Jagr, were on the World team that Bowman said was "almost like a Czech all-star team." Gretzky, who retired last year, was missing from the All-Star lineup for the first time in 19 years. But he drew an extended ovation when his No. 99 was officially retired by every NHL team during a pregame ceremony. Unlike the other major all-star games, the NHL format sometimes puts regular-season teammates on opposing teams. That's how Toronto's Dimitri Yushkevich beat Joseph, his Toronto teammate, on the goal that put the World ahead 3-1 at 14:35. "He's been setting me up in practice," Joseph said. "He hasn't scored on me all year." Pavel Bure's first two goals, in a span of 8:05 at the start of the second period, came against Martin Brodeur of New Jersey and put the World ahead 5-2. But North America closed again to within one goal, at 5-4, as Tony Amonte of Chicago scored at 12:14 and Whitney at 17:08, with Salo in goal. Ray Bourque, who tied Gretzky by playing in an 18th consecutive All-Star game, and Mark Messier each had an assist to remain tied for the All-Star record with 13 assists. Besides the memorable opening clip, the ABC telecast featured in-game interviews with coaches and players, who answered questions submitted via the Internet. The live microphones made for an uncomfortable afternoon for North America coach Pat Quinn, who said, "I was not allowed to speak to the officials in the language I am normally accustomed."
All-Star Game hat tricks
All-Star brother combinations
Bure completes smooth handoff between generations of All-Stars
 Pavel Bure's hat trick earned him the MVP award
"To you, from failing hands, we pass the torch. Be yours to hold it high." In a rare moment for a television production, the league's 50th All-Star game was almost as good as the touching opener. And if you missed that, you missed something very special.
It showed three men walking along a path through the woods, reminiscing about redoubtable hockey careers. Suddenly, Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux came upon a frozen pond, where four youngsters were playing hockey. Their names: Pavel Bure, Paul Kariya, Jaromir Jagr and Eric Lindros. They skated up to the trio and invited them to play. "No thanks, boys," Gretzky said, grabbing a stick and flipping the puck to Jagr. "It's your turn now." The four stood on the ice and tapped their sticks in unison, a hockey player's applause. If it didn't give you a lump in your throat, hockey probably isn't your game. "It wasn't a commercial. It was something bigger, like I was a little part of history," Bure said. "It was like changing generations, and it meant a lot to me." So inspired, Bure made a little history himself, scoring three goals -- two of them assisted by his brother Valeri -- to win MVP honors in a 9-4 rout by the World Team All-Stars against the North American team. Pavel also had an assist, giving the Bure brothers six points, a record for brothers in the game. Before the game, all players on both sides lined up at the blue line and tapped their sticks as Gretzky's No. 99 was retired by the league for all time, like baseball retired Jackie Robinson's No. 42. Gretzky, the game's MVP last year in Tampa, retired from the game last April 18. He hadn't put on a pair of skates until this weekend, when a bunch of pals played a little pickup game at Maple Leaf Gardens. But he might have been tempted Friday, when ABC filmed its opener on a tiny lake about 90 minutes north of Toronto. It was a slice of pure Canadiana. But what makes hockey such a wonderful sport is that it's played out similarly by boys in the United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Japan. Pond hockey. Canadians also call it shinny. It's where kids, away from the watchful eyes of coaches, parents and referees, develop skills and creativity that Gretzky sees lacking in today's youngsters whose development is too structured by expensive ice time, organized practices and games broken down by shifts. "I've been saying for years that our kids should play more of that," Gretzky said. "The one thing that we seem to have lost that the Jean Beliveaus, the Bobby Orrs and the Gordie Howes of the world had is the creativity and imagination. That creativity was founded on the ponds, where kids would skate six, seven, eight hours a day. Just pick up sides with two nets, no goalies and away you go. "You take 10 kids now and rent the ice to play a scrimmage, the first thing every kid would say is, 'What position do you want me to play?' We need to get back to just the basics of having fun. I think that would go a long way toward getting the creativity and imagination back into our game." The Bure boys developed their incredible skills in a highly structured hockey school sponsored by the famed Central Red Army in the former Soviet Union. But they also were known to spend long hours by themselves on a pond near their home in Moscow. "There was a frozen lake near our building," Pavel said, his little brother sitting next to him with a smile that suggested he knew a confession was coming. "Sometimes, instead of going to school, we would go and play hockey all day long." Since the day Gretzky retired, the hockey world, particularly in Canada, has obsessed about who would succeed him as the star/spokesman for the game. Naturally, Bure was asked whether he was ready to assume that responsibility. "First of all, I am not a businessman, I am a hockey player," he said. "And I don't think anybody can do the things for hockey that Wayne did. Because of him, hockey is in the south, in Florida, in California. It's going to be really hard for our generation to do what Wayne Gretzky did for hockey." For a brief and shining moment, Sunday, it looked as though Gretzky would steal the show without lacing up a pair of skates. Then they dropped the puck and began a new chapter in the history of a great game. And there went Pavel Bure blazing a trail toward a bright future, the torch held high above his head.
Out of this World
 Hat trick: World Team's Pavel Bure, left, is congratulated by his brother, Valeri, after scoring the first of three goals Three goals, two brothers, one special moment in an NHL All-Star game that, for a change, was something more than an unexciting shootout. Pavel Bure scored three goals, two set up by little brother Valeri, and goaltender Olaf Kolzig played a rare shutout period as the World team turned the 50th All-Star game into an uncommon rout, dominating North America 9-4 on Sunday. "That's why I got MVP, he set me up a lot," Pavel Bure said, nudging his little brother. The Bure brothers nearly connected for another goal in a four-goal World third period, but Valeri disobeyed big brother's instructions by passing up an open shot to try to feed Pavel again. "Younger brother never listens to older brother, you know how that is," said Valeri, who plays for Calgary and insists he would take less pay to play alongside Pavel in Florida. "I thought it would be even better if he got a fourth goal." Except for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, the Bures have not played together since their days with the once-famous Red Army team. Valeri joined the Russian team at age 16, when Pavel already was a star. "I'm his biggest fan," Valeri Bure said. "It's easy to play with him, 99 percent of time give him the puck he scores a goal." Bure's hat trick was the 11th in All-Star history, but the fourth in four years in a game that has increasingly emphasized offense, with an average of 16 goals scored over the last 10 years.
Bure brothers have a day to remember
 Pavel Bure had plenty to celebrate on Sunday as he scored the 11th hat trick in All-Star Game history. Valeri Bure broke across the blue line and curled a sharp backhand pass to Pavel Bure, who took one stride and blasted a low shot through the goalie's legs. Seconds later, they collided in a joyous hug. With the world's best hockey players trying to keep up, Pavel and Valeri Bure were just two brothers having fun Sunday in the 50th NHL All-Star Game. Pavel reached the high point of his fantastic season with the Most Valuable Player award after a four-point performance. His younger brother got a prize as well -- a rare chance to return, at least in spirit, to the Moscow ponds where they learned the game. Valeri assisted on Pavel's first two goals and later passed up a scoring chance to give Pavel a shot at a fourth goal. Their mother, Tatiana, watched from the stands as her sons played together for the first time since the 1998 Olympics and on the same line for the first time since their days with the Red Army team. Playing mostly on a line with his brother and Florida teammate Viktor Kozlov, Pavel Bure had three goals and an assist in leading the World Team to a 9-4 victory over North America. "That was the one combination we had in mind to play, because we thought they would have a chemistry together," World coach Scotty Bowman said. "I think we were right." Bure recorded the 11th hat trick in All-Star history and the first since Teemu Selanne did it for the World Team in Vancouver in 1998. "Obviously, it's a great honor," Bure said. "It was a special night for me because I was playing with my brother." Bure got his first goal 33 seconds into the second period. Valeri curled a backhand pass to his brother, and Pavel beat Martin Brodeur between the goalie's legs. Eight minutes later, Kozlov passed to Valeri, who sent a cross-ice pass to his brother that was one-timed into a nearly open net. Bure completed the hat trick by burying a rebound of Nicklas Lidstrom's shot in the third period. Pavel and Valeri were the eighth pair of brothers to play together in an All-Star game. Their instant chemistry proved their childhood games of pickup hockey hadn't been forgotten. "We had a frozen lake near our building, and sometimes instead of going to school, we would go play hockey," said Pavel. Late in the third period, the brothers broke in on goalie Mike Richter on a two-on-one. Pavel passed to Valeri, but the younger brother tried to give back the puck, and neither got off a shot. "It's kind of a funny situation, because after the second period we were talking in the dressing room," Pavel said. "I said, 'If we have a 2-on-1, just go to the off post. I will give you a pass, and shoot it right away.' But he tried to get me the fourth goal." "You know the younger brother never listens to the older one," Valeri laughed. With 61 points in 44 games, Pavel Bure is third in the league in scoring at the All-Star break. He leads the NHL with 37 goals -- a league-best nine of them game-winners -- and is second only to Jaromir Jagr in points per game. Florida's three All-Stars combined for nine points Sunday. Kozlov had three assists -- two on goals by Pavel Bure -- and Ray Whitney had a goal and an assist for North America. But before he gets back to the grind of the Panthers' season, Pavel Bure took the opportunity to relish the day he and his brother ruled the hockey world. "I won't forget this experience," Pavel said. "It will be one of the most special days of my career."
Bure brothers combine for 3 goals, 3 assists
 Pavel Bure, right, offers a hand to younger brother Valeri, who assisted on Pavel's secod goal in the second period. Three goals, two brothers, one special moment in an NHL All-Star game that, for a change, was something more than an unexciting shootout. Pavel Bure scored three goals, two set up by little brother Valeri, and goaltender Olaf Kolzig played a rare shutout period as the World team turned the 50th All-Star game into an uncommon rout, dominating North America 9-4 on Sunday. "That's why I got MVP, he set me up a lot," Pavel Bure said, nudging his little brother. The Bure brothers nearly connected for another goal in a four-goal World third period, but Valeri disobeyed big brother's instructions by passing up an open shot to try to feed Pavel again. "Younger brother never listens to older brother, you know how that is," said Valeri, who plays for Calgary and insists he would take less pay to play alongside Pavel in Florida. "I thought it would be even better if he got a fourth goal." Except for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, the Bures have not played together since their days with the once-famous Red Army team. Valeri joined the Russian team at age 16, when Pavel already was a star. "I'm his biggest fan," Valeri Bure said. "It's easy to play with him, 99 percent of the time you give him the puck, he scores a goal." Bure's hat trick was the 11th in All-Star history, but the fourth in four years in a game that has increasingly emphasized offense, with an average of 16 goals scored over the last 10 years. The five-goal decision followed close victories by North America, 8-6 in 1999 and 8-7 in 1988, in the first two All-Star games played under the present format. In a game where defense is an afterthought and hitting is totally forgotten as players are as concerned with preventing injuries as they are scoring goals, hometown goaltender Curtis Joseph of the Maple Leafs made 20 saves in a busy first period, yet still trailed 3-2. With icings waved off and the play constantly flowing from end-to-end with no checking or face-offs to interfere, it took only 11 minutes to play the first nine minutes of clock time -- an unheard of pace for a regular-season game. The first and only penalty wasn't assessed until 5:51 of the third period, when Colorado's Sandis Ozolinsh of the World team was called for hooking. Jagr and Pavel Bure were part of the Legends on Ice film clip that opened the ABC-TV telecast and drew extended cheers inside the Air Canada Centre. The short film depicted Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe trekking to a frozen pond for a pickup game, only to stumble upon Jagr, Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya and Pavel Bure already playing. The legends yield the ice to the younger generation, a symbolic passing of the torch that followed Lemieux's retirement in 1997 and Gretzky's last year. Pavel Bure saw the clip, and said, "It wasn't just a commercial, it was something bigger. It's like history, it's like changing generations. It meant a lot to me." Bure smiled as he talked about standing on the pond for two hours to film the clip. "We used to play on a pond, too, in Russia," Pavel Bure said. Sometimes, my brother and I would skip school, stay home and play hockey."
Bure impressive Valeri Bure broke across the blue line and curled a sharp backhand pass to Pavel Bure, who took one stride and blasted a low shot through the goalie's legs. Seconds later, they collided in a joyous hug. With the world's best hockey players trying to keep up, Pavel and Valeri Bure were just two brothers having fun Sunday in the 50th NHL All-Star Game. Pavel reached the high point of his fantastic season with the Most Valuable Player award after a four-point performance. His younger brother got a prize as well — a rare chance to return, at least in spirit, to the Moscow ponds where they learned the game. Valeri assisted on Pavel's first two goals and later passed up a scoring chance to give Pavel a shot at a fourth goal. Their mother, Tatiana, watched from the stands as her sons played together for the first time since the 1998 Olympics and on the same line for the first time since their days with the Red Army team. Playing mostly on a line with his brother and Florida teammate Viktor Kozlov, Pavel Bure had three goals and an assist in leading the World Team to a 9-4 victory over North America. "That was the one combination we had in mind to play, because we thought they would have a chemistry together," World coach Scotty Bowman said. "I think we were right." Bure recorded the 11th hat trick in All-Star history and the first since Teemu Selanne did it for the World Team in Vancouver in 1998. "Obviously, it's a great honor," Bure said. "It was a special night for me because I was playing with my brother." Bure got his first goal 33 seconds into the second period. Valeri curled a backhand pass to his brother, and Pavel beat Martin Brodeur between the goalie's legs. Eight minutes later, Kozlov passed to Valeri, who sent a cross-ice pass to his brother that was one-timed into a nearly open net. Bure completed the hat trick by burying a rebound of Nicklas Lidstrom's shot in the third period. Pavel and Valeri were the eighth pair of brothers to play together in an All-Star game. Their instant chemistry proved their childhood games of pickup hockey hadn't been forgotten. "We had a frozen lake near our building, and sometimes instead of going to school, we would go play hockey," said Pavel. Late in the third period, the brothers broke in on goalie Mike Richter on a two-on-one. Pavel passed to Valeri, but the younger brother tried to give back the puck, and neither got off a shot. "It's kind of a funny situation, because after the second period we were talking in the dressing room," Pavel said. "I said, 'If we have a 2-on-1, just go to the off post. I will give you a pass, and shoot it right away.' But he tried to get me the fourth goal." "You know the younger brother never listens to the older one," Valeri laughed. With 61 points in 44 games, Pavel Bure is third in the league in scoring at the All-Star break. He leads the NHL with 37 goals — a league-best nine of them game-winners — and is second only to Jaromir Jagr in points per game. Florida's three All-Stars combined for nine points Sunday. Kozlov had three assists — two on goals by Pavel Bure — and Ray Whitney had a goal and an assist for North America. But before he gets back to the grind of the Panthers' season, Pavel Bure took the opportunity to relish the day he and his brother ruled the hockey world. "I won't forget this experience," Pavel said. "It will be one of the most special days of my career."
Three goals, two brothers, one special moment in an NHL All-Star Game
 Pavel Bure's hat trick led the World's assault on the North Americans Three goals, two brothers, one special moment in an NHL All-Star Game that, for a change, was something more than an unexciting shootout. Pavel Bure scored three goals, two set up by little brother Valeri, and goaltender Olaf Kolzig played a rare shutout period as the World team turned the 50th All-Star Game into an uncommon rout, dominating North America 9-4 on Sunday. "That's why I got MVP, he set me up a lot," Pavel Bure said, nudging his little brother. The Bure brothers nearly connected for another goal in a four-goal World third period, but Valeri disobeyed big brother's instructions by passing up an open shot to try to feed Pavel again. "Younger brother never listens to older brother, you know how that is," said Valeri, who plays for Calgary and insists he would take less pay to play alongside Pavel in Florida. "I thought it would be even better if he got a fourth goal." When Pavel and Valeri Bure line up for the World Team in today's NHL All-Star game, their father Vladimir, won't even be watching. He'll be as far away from the television as he can get. Watching his two sons play hockey used to be the joy of his life. Now the spectacle only breaks his confused heart. "My boys . . . " Vladimir, close to tears and sitting on a couch in his modest west-side Vancouver townhouse, says. "I gave everything for my boys. It's like someone is trying to destroy my life. I don't understand. "I won't watch it. It's too painfull. Neither Pavel, 28, nor Valeri Bure, 25, has spoken to Vladimir since the fall of 1998. How ironic it seems. First the autumn change. And now this cold, bitter winter of their discontent. "I was dreaming even before they were born," continues Valdimir. The townhouse is tastefully but not extravagantly furnished. There are no keepsakes of Russia. The pictures of smiling boys in hockey gear. "Before they were born, I was just 19 and I was already dreaming. I would see my kids as Olympic champions. I didn't want them to be doctors or engineers or lawyers. I wanted them to be athletes. I spent all my life working with them but I don't feel appreciation from my kids. "When Pavel was having his operation (for torn knee ligaments) I asked the doctors if they could give him my ligaments." But when the Bure boys played for Russia in the Nagano Olympics in 1998, Vladimir did not witness the great moment. "they forgot to invite me to the Olympic Games. It was one of the most painful times in my life. When I saw on TV it's like I should be there and I'm here." To understand Vladimir Bure's pain you must first understand Vladimir. He was born in Norilsk, a Siberian gulag. His father, Valeri, had been sent there by the Stalinist government. Vladimir, a passionate and driven man, moved to Moscow at a young age. He became a swimmer. A very good one. He represented the Soviet Union in the 1968, '72 and '76 Games, winning a silver and three bronze medals. Asked now if he still has them, he says they're in Moscow where his ex-wife, the mother of Paveland Valeri still lives. She'll be at the All-Star game in Toronto. The boys are looking forward to it. But the fire that drove Vladimir Bure to out-swim the world also drove Vladimir Bure to make the sons the best they could be. Inthe end he probably drove them too hard. Pavel and Valeri must have their reasons for the silence. Vladimir says he has no idea what they are. "it's like drops of water on a stone," he says. "Eventually the stone breaks in half." Asked if he pushed too hard, Vladimir says: "It's a price. To be good, you don't pay money. It's hard work. No, if I didn't do it thenthey don't reach where they are. "Every father should understand me. I'm not a special father, I'm a normal father. "My friends, my mother,they know me and my sons . . . it's a shock for them too. Everybody knows how I love my sons." Vladimir re-married in 1993. He and wife Julia have a four-year-old daughter Katya. She is half-sister to Pavel and Valeri but they never write or talk to her either. "They know she's here but they don't care," says Vladimir when asked if they take any interest in her life. "Every day they hear how my life is but they don't care." Neither, apparently, do they have much time for their grandmother, Vladimir's mother. "She cries every day," he says. For Vladimir the boys are distant now, geographically and emotionally. Valeri stars with the Flames. Pavel stars with the Florida Panthers and makes $us8 million per year. He has an oceanside condo on Miami's South Beach. Vladimir talks occasionaly with Valeri's wife, actress Candace Cameron from the TV sitcom Full House. "I feel like she's very warm to me," he says. But he doesn't even have Pavel's phone number. His older son has become a mystery to the father. What he knows about Pavel now is what he hears from friends or reads in the paper. The news isn't always good. He doesn't have much to say about Pavel's associations with shady characters, including the alleged Russian gangster Anzor Kikalishvili. Vladimir told Sports Illustrated recently that Pavel's friends are "very bad." "I don't know if he's bad," says Vladimir now. "I can't tell Pavel how to choose his friends. I don't know if he's bad or good." As for Pavel's new flame, the beautiful Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova, Mr. Bure is clearer on that. "I don't know about Anna," he says with a laugh. "Anna looks good on TV. For me it's exciting." And as to why Pavel wanted out of Vancouver and demanded a trade from the Canucks? It's simple, he needed a change. "People say, the grass is greener," says Vladimir. "It was not because he didn't like Vancouver. He liked Vancouver. He's very emotional. He needs new blood in his body. Now he has new blood in his body and he's playing with new emotion." "He wanted to be in th eeast. There are lots of Russians there. He likes that." Vladimir now is worried that people will twist his words. Make him look bad. He says that happened once before. There's the story about how he slapped Pavel in the face at a sports memorabilia show. In Vladimir's version it was a little, almost playful, brush to the back of the head. A father-to-son gesture. And he did it when Pavel refused to get his picture taken with Valeri because Valeri hadn't made the NHL. Vladimir's business is training athletes and he is good at it. He's worked with Canuck Alexander Mogilny and former Canuck Gino Odjick. The townhouse is for sale. He's trying to get a work visa so he can move to Boston. Last summer he worked with five New Jersey Devils, including runaway rookie of the year candidate Scott Gomez and Vadim Sharifijanov. Though his sons make millions, Vladimir struggles. But he says this family problem isn't about money. And his dreams now aren't of Olympic medals or NHL stardom but of a greater prize ... reconciliation. "I dream of that. Every day I get up I wonder why this has happened. Every night I wonder why this has happened. "I have a wife. I have my little girl. But my two boys ... they are still in my heart." Except for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, the Bures have not played together since their days with the once-famous Red Army team. Valeri joined the Russian team at age 16, when Pavel already was a star. "I'm his biggest fan," Valeri Bure said. "It's easy to play with him, 99 percent of time give him the puck he scores a goal." Bure's hat trick was the 11th in All-Star history, but the fourth in four years in a game that has increasingly emphasized offense, with an average of 16 goals scored over the last 10 years. That's what made Kolzig's shutout third period so unusual, as he faced only eight shots and stopped them all as the World stretched a 5-4 lead at the start of the period. "We got some great goaltending," said World coach Scotty Bowman, who coached in an All-Star game for an unprecedented fifth decade. "He (Kolzig) made some tough saves and really distinguished himself out there." Pavol Demitra of St. Louis scored his second goal and Miroslav Satan of Buffalo and Radek Bonk of Ottawa also scored in the third period against Mike Richter, the only goaltender to not allow a goal in Saturday night's skills competition. The five-goal decision followed close victories by North America, 8-6 in 1999 and 8-7 in 1988, in the first two All-Star games played under the present format. In a game where defense is an afterthought and hitting is totally forgotten as players are as concerned with preventing injuries as they are scoring goals, hometown goaltender Curtis Joseph of the Maple Leafs made 20 saves in a busy first period, yet still trailed 3-2. With icings waved off and the play constantly flowing from end-to-end with no checking or face-offs to interfere, it took only 11 minutes to play the first nine minutes of clock time — an unheard of pace for a regular-season game. The first and only penalty wasn't assessed until 5:51 of the third period, when Colorado's Sandis Ozolinsh of the World team was called for hooking. St. Louis goaltender Roman Turek, initially left off the World team despite owning better statistics than Tommy Salo of Edmonton or Kolzig of Washington, started for the injured Dominik Hasek of Buffalo and was outstanding despite yielding goals to Joe Sakic and Jeremy Roenick. Turek stopped breakaways by Whitney and Owen Nolan, giving his World teammates time to open a 2-0 lead on goals by Demitra at 3:12 and NHL scoring leader Jaromir Jagr of Pittsburgh at 10:50. "A lot of action, a lot of shots," Turek said of the almost nonstop up-and-down flow. "I think it's more like European hockey." Jagr and Pavel Bure were part of the Legends on Ice film clip that drew extended cheers inside the Air Canada Centre. The short film depicted Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe trekking to a frozen pond for a pickup game, only to stumble upon Jagr, Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya and Pavel Bure already playing. The legends yield the ice to the younger generation, a symbolic passing of the torch that followed Lemieux's retirement in 1997 and Gretzky's last year. Pavel Bure saw the clip, and said, "It wasn't just a commercial, it was something bigger. It's like history, it's like changing generations. It meant a lot to me." Bure smiled as he talked about standing on the pond for two hours to film the clip. "We used to play on a pond, too, in Russia," Pavel Bure said. "Sometimes, my brother and I would skip school, stay home and play hockey." St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville, a World assistant coach, watched the short film on the scoreboard above the ice and said, "I almost got a tear in my eye." Gretzky, who retired last year, was missing from the All-Star lineup for the first time in 19 years. But he drew an extended ovation when his No. 99 was officially retired for every NHL team during a pregame ceremony. Unlike the other major all-star games, the NHL format sometimes puts regular-season teammates on opposing teams. That's how Toronto's Dimitri Yushkevich beat Joseph, his Toronto teammate, on the goal that put the World ahead 3-1 at 14:35. "He's been setting me up in practice," Joseph said. "He hasn't scored on me all year." Pavel Bure's first two goals, in a span of 8:05 at the start of the second period, came against goaltender Martin Brodeur of New Jersey and put the World ahead 5-2. But the North America team closed again to within one goal, at 5-4, as Tony Amonte of Chicago scored at 12:14 and Whitney at 17:08, with Salo in goal.
Bure's Hat Trick Propels World All-Stars Pavel Bure became the 11th player in NHL history and the second European player to notch a hat trick in All-Star Game competition, as he sparked the World All-Stars to a 9-4 victory over the North American All-Stars at the 50th NHL-All-Star Game, presented by Nortel Networks, at the Air Canada Centre. Bure's third goal came during a third-period blitz against New York Rangers goalie Mike Richter, as the Blues' Pavol Demitra, Bure and Buffalo's Miroslav Satan scored in a two-minute span to break open a 5-4 World All-Stars lead. Bure was ably assisted by his brother, Calgary's Valeri Bure. They became the first brother combination since Maurice and Henri Richard in the 1958 All-Star Game to combine on a goal. The City of Toronto doesn't need an emotional boost when it comes to hockey, but the packed house at the Air Canada Centre got it anyway when the NHL retired Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 in on-ice ceremonies prior to the game. No one will ever wear No. 99, for any NHL team, again. Following the Gretzky ceremonies, the spotlight turned to today's stars, who once again competed in the North America vs. the World format. The North Americans had won the first two games contested under this format. But not the third. Demitra opened the scoring just 3:12 into the first period, netting a shot against hometown hero Curtis Joseph of the Maple Leafs. Toronto's Dimitri Yushkevitch and New Jersey's Patrik Elias assisted on the goal. Jaromir Jagr made it 2-0 for the World All-Stars at 9:10 of the first when he beat Joseph off a pass from Montreal's Martin Rucinsky. Colorado's Joe Sakic got the North Americans on the scoreboard at 6:04 when he bunted the puck past the Blues' Roman Turek after slick passes from Florida's Ray Whitney and Philadelphia's Mark Recchi. The North American celebration was short-lived, however, as the Maple Leafs' Dimitri Yushkevitch scored less than a minute later to push the World's lead to 3-1. Jeremy Roenick closed the gap once again with just 30 seconds remaining in the period on an assist from Dallas' Mike Modano.
All-Star Game a Family Affair For Bures
 The Bure Brothers were All-Star teammates for the first time at the 50th NHL All-Star Game Pavel Bure has plenty of experience at this All-Star thing. He made his fifth career All-Star Game appearance at the 50th NHL All-Star Game Sunday, and took all the hoopla and hype in stride. On the other hand, Valeri Bure, Pavel's younger brother and an outstanding forward in his own right for the Calgary Flames, was making his first All-Star Game appearance and couldn't have been more excited to be in the world hockey spotlight alongside his brother. "I think this is great just to be able to spend a couple of days with my brother during the season," said Valeri. "I've got everyone here, my mom and my wife, so it's just been a great time so far and I'm sure there's a lot to come, for sure. "The last time we played together was the Olympic Games and that was a real thrill to play with Pavel," Valeir said. "It was probably one of the biggest tournaments for either of us. We got to spend a great couple of weeks together, just getting to know each other a little better. But this is a huge event and we've both talked about it already and we've each reminded each other to just try to have fun." The brothers are close and find that hockey presents a common bond that brings them even closer over the course of the season. "I don't think we really compete against each other," Valeri said. "It's more of a support thing. Every goal that he gets, after every win, I call him to congratulate him. He does the same thing and we support each other. I think the fact that we don't make it into a competitive thing brings us closer together as brothers." "I think this is his greatest season so far," Pavel said of Valeri, who has a career-high 28 goals for the Flames this season. "He's playing so well, getting lots of points, and he's a real leader for the Calgary Flames. He's a good reason why Calgary is doing so well."
Today's ABC telecast Today's ABC telecast will open with a scene shot on a pond about 60 miles outside Toronto. Playing shinny are Bure, Anaheim's Paul Kariya, Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr and Philadelphia's Eric Lindros. Watching are Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux. The CBC telecast opened with a lengthy interview with Pavel in a golf-course club house in Florida.
Opposites Align One is a quick, bright-eyed converted California boy with a public expansiveness and a Hollywood wife and family. The other is a soberly handsome eternal Muscovite who erects the Cone of Silence about his gossip-column-chronicled dalliances. He's Valeri. He's Pavel. They're Bures. They fight crime. No, wait. They score goals. But the brother act in today's NHL All-Star Game does feature the kind of too-convenient opposites favored by TV cop show creators. Panthers right wing Pavel Bure, 28, and Calgary Flames right wing Valeri Bure, 26, will be tossed together in today's game, sometimes centered by Panthers center Viktor Kozlov. It will be the first time the brothers are on the same team since the 1998 Olympics, which was the first time since 1990-91. Back then, Pavel starred on the Central Red Army team, and Valeri was a fourth-liner. They do share some things: speed from short, powerful thighs; goal-scorer's hands; love and respect for each other; memories of hard times in Moscow; and current good times that allow them the rare opportunity to spend time together during this All-Star Weekend. "We'll hang out a lot," Pavel said. "No matter what we'll do, we'll do together." And with Valeri's wife, actress Candace Cameron, and Tania Bure, their mother, who came from Moscow. "Soon as I told her, she's like, 'OK, I'm coming,' " Valeri said. "She's super excited. I can see it in her eyes, she's so happy. Another person who is really happy is my wife. She's more excited than me. She's two weeks from having a baby, and she flies all the way from L.A. just to be here." Don't speak of sibling rivalry to these guys. After each of the two goals Valeri scored against the Panthers on Oct. 22, an injured Pavel beamed proudly in the press box. "Why would you have a rivalry against your brother?" Pavel said. "It's stupid to have a rivalry with one of your closest friends." Expectations for Valeri were inflated because of Pavel's instant NHL success -- 154 goals and 277 points in his first 224 games. Now in his sixth NHL season, Valeri is accepted for his own ability. But he has always accepted that he'll forever be "the other Bure" in some respects. "I try to watch him play during the regular season as many games as I can because he's so exciting," Valeri said. "Every shift, he creates something out there. He brings fans out of their seats. I'm his biggest fan, so I'm doing a lot of standing." And Pavel's doing a lot of smiling these days, for himself and his brother. Pavel leads the NHL with 37 goals. Valeri is tied for fifth with Detroit's Brendan Shanahan at 28. That's already a career high in goals for Valeri, and his 52 points are one off his career high. They like each other. But they're not alike. Valeri is the married guy. Pavel and Valeri, regular viewers of Full House reruns, were in a 1994 charity hockey game with Dave Coulier, who was on Full House with Cameron. Two years of courtship later, Valeri and Cameron were married. They have one child and another due soon. Pavel is the swinging bachelor, with homes in Coral Springs and South Beach. Once Pavel was well on his way to being December's NHL Player of the Month, questions about his reconstructed right knee numbered fewer than those about his relationship with tennis player Anna Kournikova. "I'm outgoing in a different way," Valeri said. "I like to stay home and be with family and kids. He's outgoing the other way. You know, he likes to go out and have a good time." Then, there's their offseason habits. "In the summer, I live in L.A. He lives in Moscow or wherever he might decide," Valeri said. "You never know. He changes all the time." Valeri can't go back to Moscow or Russia, or he'll risk being roped into his required military service. He never did that time before leaving in 1991 with Pavel and their father, Vladimir. So, Valeri stays in his new country, in which he has spent his entire adult life. That also accounts for the difference in their English speech patterns. Valeri's speech plunges forward only tinged with his native accent. Pavel's is clear but less grammatical, and washes around the thick chunk of his accent. Usually, it is Moscow that Pavel calls home each summer. There he's as publicly pampered as one would expect of someone who's rich, good-looking and a friend of the powerful. It wasn't always so. Back in the early 1980s, Vladimir divorced his wife and left his family to fend for itself after years of being supported by the money and perks he received as a world-class swimmer. Tania Bure worked three jobs at once and got by until Pavel began getting paid for being on the Red Army team. "You know, everybody goes through tough times," Valeri said. "Our family may be no different than any others. We went through the tough times. "To tell you the truth, the tough times are the best times for us. That's what brings a family close. You realize there's nothing more important than your family. That's what comes first. In a way, maybe it's good we went through it." Pavel, meanwhile, stonewalls all but the most cursory questions about his family -- especially about Vladimir, to whom he no longer speaks. Vladimir, who occasionally speaks to Valeri, is remarried and lives in Vancouver. That leads to another difference: public persona. Pavel keeps the media at arm's length. He will hit any question's stupid side with a answer as snappy as his breakaway shot. He's accommodating to reporters he knows and cooler than Green Onions to those he doesn't. Saturday, Pavel began giving three- and four-word answers 10 minutes into his interview period. He left his interview spot as soon as his 30 minutes were up. Ten feet away, Valeri yammered away for more than his half-hour. More than two hours later, he was chatting with two reporters from Montreal, where his NHL career began. Of course, Valeri hasn't had unctuous reporters baiting him or trying to pry out information on his latest romantic conquest, the way Pavel has. "I don't know if it's his status or not," Valeri said. "It's more being a different person. He's maybe not as open. He just likes to do stuff differently than I do."
All-stars in the Bure family They are lookalike brothers, yet their demeanors - and even their lifestyles - are strikingly different. Pavel Bure is quiet, frequently guarded and more often suspicious. The Florida Panthers winger returns to Russia in the off-season and has been dogged by the continuing questions about his friendship with organized crime figures - as well as prominent Russian politicians. He also is the NHL's most electrifying scorer, with his 37 goals in 44 games this season for the Panthers. Pavel's brother, Calgary Flames winger Valeri Bure, is three years younger and seems suited to life on the beach. After the NHL season, Valeri lives in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and his wife, Candace Cameron, is a few years removed from playing D.J. Tanner on the sitcom "Full House." And although Valeri has played for Russia in the World Cup and Olympics, he hasn't returned to his homeland for years - in part because he doesn't want to be told to fulfill his military commitment. "It's two different personalities," Valeri said as the brothers stood on adjacent platforms before the World Team practice Saturday, the eve of the NHL All-Star Game at the Air Canada Centre. "He may not be as open. He just likes to do things differently than I do." The bond of their childhood in Moscow, where they were raised by their mother, Tanya, after their parents' divorce, hasn't been weakened. Valeri said the brothers often talk about their past - "like the times where we would share an apple, one a week, for the three of us." On Sunday, they will be linemates in the 12:30 p.m. MST game. For Pavel, it is a return after he was left off the World roster a year ago because of his long holdout, which ended with a Jan. 17, 1999, trade to the Panthers. For Valeri, it is the stamp of further legitimacy in his breakout season, since he already has 28 goals for the surprising Flames. "I am really happy he made it," Pavel said of his brother's all-star selection. "He deserved to be here ... I think this is his greatest season so far." But Valeri still is the "other" Bure. "I was always probably in my brother's shadow," Valeri said. "He was one of biggest players in the NHL, and when you live in the shadow of one of the best, it's not so bad. It's nice that people are starting to recognize what I do in my own way. That's really nice. It gives me an idea of what my brother feels like, one-tenth of what he feels like. "I try to watch him play as many games as I can in the regular season, because he's so exciting ... Playing on the same team in this game will be great." Pavel seems headed for his third 60-goal season, but he is uncomfortable talking about it. "When I retire," he said, "I'll sit down and look at all these years and I'll think about which one I think was the most productive. But right now, I don't think about that stuff." When Pavel came over to the NHL in 1991, his younger brother came with him - in a fashion. When Pavel went to the Canucks, Valeri was 17, and he went to play major junior with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western League. "In juniors, they want to hit and fight, and I was one of those guys who didn't want to do that," Valeri said. "So it took me a while to adjust." "Socially, it was huge. I stayed with an American family for my first three years over here. Being part of a family, you see the culture, you understand things better," he said, then added with a laugh, "Maybe that's why I married an American girl." Valeri's introduction to his future wife came when he and Pavel were playing in a celebrity charity game, and one of the players was Dave Coulier, also on "Full House." Coulier introduced Cameron to the Bure brothers, who both liked to watch the syndicated show in the afternoons. Before long, Valeri was involved in a long-distance relationship with Cameron, who periodically visited him - in Fredericton, New Brunswick, home of the Canadiens' farm club. She had to change her itinerary for one visit when Valeri was called up by the Canadiens, and he has been in the NHL since, going to the Flames in a Feb. 1, 1998, trade. On Sunday, Candace - eight months pregnant with the couple's second child - will be in the Air Canada Centre seats. She will be with her mother-in-law, Tanya, who has made the trip from Moscow and is proud of her sons. Both of them.
Bures might be linemates today It was 1977, 6-year-old Pavel Bure was just getting old enough to start playing sports, and his father Vladimir, a three-time medalist in swimming for the Soviet Union in the 1972 Olympics, was debating among four career alternatives for the older of his two sons. "It was my decision," Vladimir said by phone from Vancouver. "I started him with swimming, and he was a good swimmer. But I thought, what's the best future? I wanted to choose between four sports: swimming, tennis, soccer and hockey." The Soviet national soccer team was not so good, and the system that was creating so many world-class athletes in other sports had produced no tennis players. Those were out. Swimming meant becoming the next Vladimir Bure, a huge burden. "But the Soviet Union always had a good hockey team," he said. "I thought if he worked hard, he could have more chances. So I bought him a plastic stick with a plastic puck and he played with them for many hours in the streets." Twenty-two years later, that small boy has become Russia's leading hockey export, a star right wing with the Florida Panthers who will make his fifth appearance in the NHL All-Star Game today. For him, the best part is he will be joined by brother Valeri, three years younger, for the first time, with their Moscow-based mother in the stands. And Vladimir? He also will be watching, but only on TV, from Vancouver. "We don't communicate for 2½ years," he said of his relationship with his sons. "(Pavel) didn't show me respect and broke the relationship. But I just need a phone call and it will be OK." Asked about his relationship with his father, Pavel said: "I'm not talking about that. It doesn't have to do with hockey." Word from Vancouver is that the rift was the result of differences between the two concerning Pavel's negotiations with Canucks. As is often the case with younger brothers, Valeri had it easier. Vladimir bought him skates when he was 4 and on occasion he practiced with Pavel's team. "He was a better skater than Pavel, and all the Russian coaches had the opinion at the time he would be a better player," Vladimir said. "He was smart." Pavel, meanwhile, was determined -- and obedient. His father identified a teammate, named Gera Resnik, that he decided was the best player on the team and gave his son strict orders: When players did exercises in pairs, Pavel would do them with Resnik, and do them better. "He had an example right in front of him," he said. "He learned fast because he worked hard; he was better than the ones who were lazy. "The first year (Resnik) was much better than Pavel, but by the time he was 8, Pavel was better." As Pavel's talent began to blossom, Vladimir turned his attention to Valeri. "He was smaller, so he started at 7," said Vladimir, who works as a personal trainer with several NHL players. "I used my experience with Pavel and transferred that to Valeri. When it came time to get him a coach, I knew the guy who had been Slava Fetisov's coach. He became Valeri's coach." Fetisov, one of the greatest defensemen in Soviet history, won two Stanley Cups with Detroit and now is an assistant coach with New Jersey. Sharing each other's success. Pavel and Valeri insist they were friends and never rivals during their boyhood days. "I don't think you should have a rivalry with your brother," Pavel said. "That's your blood, the people who are closest to you. And in hockey, three years is a lot of difference." "If he's good and I'm good, we share that," said Valeri, a right wing with the Calgary Flames. "His success is like my success, and I'm sure he feels the same way. I'm happy for him. It's just not normal for me to say I'm better. If you have a decent relationship, you just don't do that." By the time Valeri started playing, Pavel, then 10, "was already one of the guys who looked good and could put the puck in the net," Valeri recalled. But his father's first inkling that Pavel might be special came six years later. "He signed with the Red Army team at 16," Vladimir said. "That was good, but a lot of guys who were supposed to have big futures disappeared when they got to that level and by 18 they were gone. "His first shift in his first game, he came over the boards and 10 seconds later he scored. Now I recognize he could be a good player." Vladimir and his wife divorced in the '80s, but he took charge when it was time to get his sons to North America, acquiring visas after Pavel was drafted in the sixth round by Vancouver in 1989. "We didn't want to leave anyone behind," Valeri said, "but our mom chose to stay at home." Pavel `can fly, no question'. While agent Ron Salcer began working on a contract with the Canucks, Pavel and Valeri headed for Spokane, Wash., where Valeri was about to become the first Russian to play in the Western League and Pavel joined the team for workouts. "Pavel might still be the fastest I've seen on skates," said Bryan Maxwell, the Spokane coach at the time. "He can fly, no question. "Valeri was a dynamic player, but what I remember is he was such a nice kid. He wanted to be called Val-AIR-y, but after a while we just called him `Burr.' " Meanwhile, negotiations between the Red Army and the Canucks were stuck. The Red Army wanted $300,000 for Pavel's rights, but the Canucks were willing to pay only $250,000. The impasse ended when Pavel wrote a check for $50,000 to make up the difference. By now, Pavel's new teammates had heard all about their 20-year-old teammate. He had scored 35 goals in 44 games in his last season with the Red Army, and predicted he would score 50 in the NHL. When he skated out on the first power play of the first game, they decided to hand him the puck and see what he could do. Taking the puck behind his own net, he skated through four Winnipeg players. He didn't score on that play or that night, but he finished his rookie season with 34 goals, winning the Calder Trophy, and scored 60 in each of the next two seasons. Valeri wasn't doing badly himself, scoring 68 goals in 66 games for Spokane in 1992-93. But Maxwell said there was little talk of "the next Bure." "He was pretty special in his own way, but we never compared the two," he said. "I don't know if he put pressure on himself, but he ended up making his own name." As Pavel's star soared, Valeri's would plummet the next few years. Called up to Montreal late in the 1994-95 season, he would struggle for parts of four seasons, totaling just 46 goals in 215 games. "He was a good player, but he was young and Montreal always brought the young players along slow," said New Jersey defenseman Lyle Odelein, who was there at the time. Calgary General Manager Al Coates saw potential the Canadiens apparently did not and traded for him on Feb. 1, 1998. "I saw a versatile player who could play both a regular shift and special teams," Coates said. "It wasn't until we traded Theo Fleury (13 months later) that he really came into his own. But we said at that time that deal would give other players a chance to prove themselves. He took that ice time and did constructive things with it." Valeri said the best part of the deal was it took him within an hour's flight of Vancouver and his brother. "It was exciting," he said. "We talked about how he could come over or I could fly there on a day off. But he wasn't happy in Vancouver, and being happy was most important." The brothers have taken widely different paths since arriving in L.A. almost nine years ago. Valeri returned to Southern California, married actress Candace Cameron (from the sitcom Full House), has a family and rarely returns to his homeland. Pavel spends most of his off-season as an eligible bachelor in Moscow, the East Coast and Europe. In South Florida he has residences in Fort Lauderdale and trendy South Beach and has been dating tennis star Anna Kournikova, who also has a place on South Beach and attends Panthers games. "As long as I'm happy it's great, and I know he is," Pavel said of his brother. "He has a beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter and another on the way. When I come to see him you can see how much he enjoys to be a father." Kozlov on line with two Bures today? No one knows if the pair will play on the same line today -- coach Scotty Bowman might put them on either side of Panthers center Viktor Kozlov. However things turn out, it's sure to be memorable. And Vladimir, 3,000 miles away, will be watching. "This is very important, very nice," he said. "I've been to three All-Star Games and you're very happy to see your child make that. For me, it's about myself; I worked with those guys and now there they are."
The Brothers Bure to debut at All-Star Game
 Candace Cameron knows that for obvious reasons, women in the final weeks of pregnancy are encouraged to stay off airplanes. But the former TV sitcom star, due to give birth in two weeks, took a five-hour flight from Los Angeles to Toronto on Friday. She simply had to see her husband, Calgary Flames right winger Valeri Bure, compete in his first NHL All-Star Game -- and get a rare opportunity to play with his older brother, Pavel. "Don't tell the airline," said Cameron, who starred on Full House. "It's such a thrilling weekend for me that I couldn't miss it. I'm my husband's biggest fan, and for him to get the chance to play with his brother is maybe once in a lifetime." Even if the Bures' second child waits a while to be born, this is still a momentous weekend for the family. Valeri will join his older brother, Panthers right wing Pavel, on the World All-Star team -- and coach Scotty Bowman said he plans to play the brothers on the same line at some point. Valeri and Pavel will become the 12th pair of brothers to play in the same All-Star Game and the eighth to play on the same team. "For sure, this one is the most special All-Star Game for me," Pavel said. "I'm really happy that he deserved to be here. To play together is going to be great." The brothers have played together on Russian national teams, but they have never been on the same line. Though their careers have taken them to opposite ends of North America, the brothers remain close, speaking by phone nearly every day. "We're not really competitive with each other now," Valeri said. "We like to see each other do well. We've grown up and realize how hard it is to play in this league, so we support each other." The Bures are well on their way to another NHL rarity. They could become the third set of brothers to lead their teams in scoring in the same season. Only Dennis and Bryan Hextall (1970-71) and Neal and Aaron Broten (1982-83) have done it before. Valeri, 25, is on the way to his best season. He leads the Flames with 52 points and has become their catalyst, though he's more of a two-way player than his 28-year-old brother. In perhaps the best measure of Pavel's remarkable first full season in Florida, both of his semi-regular linemates, Viktor Kozlov and Ray Whitney, are All-Stars as well. With 61 points in 44 games, Pavel is third in the league in scoring at the star break. He leads the NHL with 37 goals -- a league-best nine of them winners -- and is second to Jaromir Jagr in points per game. At times brotherhood seems to be their only link. Valeri is a self-described homebody who wants a big family with Cameron, while Pavel enjoys South Florida nightlife and the notoriety of his much-rumored dalliance with tennis star Anna Kournikova. Valeri has a hospital bed reserved for his wife in Toronto in case an unexpected delivery becomes necessary, and the family doctor -- a big hockey fan -- is attending the game. Pavel and Valeri joined their mother, Cameron and other family for dinner Friday night in Toronto. In a hectic NHL season, it was a rare opportunity for everyone to be together. "We had a very good evening," Pavel said. "It was nice to be with family."
 AP Photo/Ryan Remiorz
Whitney on Bure Whitney, a terribly competitive sort himself, also had a good story about how competitive Bure is. "He keeps stats on breakaways with the goalies in practice and puts them up on the board to taunt them," Whitney laughed. "I've never been around a guy who wants to score so much." Bure does the same thing with defensemen and practice two-on-ones.
Young Bure follows Pavel to the top TORONTO -- Pavel Bure was enjoying dinner at Morton's here Thursday when a bottle of champagne arrived at the table courtesy of a diner at another table. "Mr. Gretzky wishes to offer his compliments on your fine season," came the explanation. The Great One's respect for Bure has long been known and the fact the Russian's trade from Vancouver to New York last year never happened is one of the chief reasons No. 99 isn't playing in this year's 50th all-star game. And had Valeri been present the same night it might have cost Gretzky two bottles. Pavel's younger brother is finally enjoying the breakthrough season both have been longing for. Both have the Canucks to thank, in some ways. In Florida, 28-year-old Pavel is flourishing with 37 goals and a new outlook on the possibility of winning by virtue of the fact he's escaped the hideous Canucks. Valeri, 25, is doing well with Calgary in part because he gets to play Vancouver so often. They seem poised to become only the third brother act in NHL history to lead their respective teams in scoring the same year. Bryan and Dennis Hextall did it in 1970-71 as did Aaron and Neal Broten in '82-83. Pavel leads the NHL in goals and he's third in points with 61. Valeri has 28 goals and 52 points, good for eighth place in the league. "I am so happy for him," said Pavel of his little brother. "You are always concerned it might not happen for him but I knew he worked hard, harder than me. I'm not surprised." Bure the elder may also be enjoying his finest year. While he said Saturday he's had two years at 60 goals and likely won't get there this year, if he had played the eight games he missed earlier it's not hard to imagine him at the 40-goal-plus mark now, certainly within hailing distance. "You can see he's a better player now," said Valeri. "He's smarter, he's in different positions than when he first started. I still have to learn, but we are so different, what he does may not apply to me. He's always up by the red line. Me, I have guys who give me the puck and go to the net and I get in behind them and it opens up a lot of room for me to shoot." Valeri's wife, actress and Full House star Candace Cameron-Bure, is set to have the couple's second child three weeks from now, while Pavel is still very much the bachelor, flitting about in Ft. Lauderdale having a good time. But the two still have not made peace with their father, Vladimir, who lives in Vancouver and remains, as one of his friends described, "a very inflexible, rigid guy." The sons haven't spoken to dad in more than two years. Vladimir, whose own father was banished to Siberia by Stalin, is waiting for the boys to make the first move. One possible reason for the rift is lingering resentment on how Vladimir left the boys' mother to bring up the family alone. To be sure, they haven't forgotten. But his methods of training, which Pavel says may have created re-hab problems from his first knee operation, were also a factor, at least in the firing of his father as his personal trainer. "They were hard times when my mother was working three jobs to get money coming in," said Valeri. "But the hard times are often the best, the ones you remember most. She did that until Pavel was about 15 and started making a little money. No, we're not talking with my father, but we just need a little time. I'm sure it will all work out. Family is too important." While Vladimir doesn't talk to his lads, he certainly doesn't mind talking about them. "I bought (Pavel) a plastic stick and he liked to play on the streets and he played for many hours. When he joined a team (age six) I told him, 'You're a Bure and you're going to be one of the best.' At the time he was seven there was a star of his team named Gera Resnik. I said, 'You have to do each exercise like him and be better than him.' He had an example right in front of him. The next year Pavel was better than him. "I knew he was pretty good, but I didn't think that good until he moved to Red Army. On his first shift he scored a goal. That's when I thought he might be special." Like so many hockey families, no matter how good the older one is, there are always people saying the younger one is going to be better. Same in Russia. "In the beginning Valeri was a better skater than Pavel. He started at four and all the Russian coaches had the opinion Valeri would be a better player because he was smart and so good. To me, I was the father, they were equal." Valeri laughs when admitting Pavel is the better player and says he feels no pressure to keep up. "If he scored 100 and I scored 10, it wouldn't bother me. I would feel as much a part of his 100 as him. They would be my goals, too, and I think he would feel the same way about me." Pavel talked about how defensive the game has become and how much more difficult it is to score, even for him. When asked if the game's cyclic nature will see a swing back to offence, he shot back: "No, not unless they do something. Too many coaches have to win and they think defence is the only way. Me, I'd like to play four-on-four with no red line, but they don't ask me." No, they just watch him. And finally, they're watching Valeri pretty closely, too.
Bure brothers looking forward to quality ice time For the Bure brothers, Valeri and Pavel, it is always a special moment when they have a chance to lace up skates for the same squad and without a need to chase each other out there. Or which way is it? Are they chasing each other and the points? "No, I don't feel that way at all," said Valeri, who plays for the Calgary Flames. "If he [Pavel] gets hundred points and me just ten I don't mind at all. It will be my hundred points as much as it will be his. We share things, we support each other-- so it makes a little difference. After all, we are brothers and he's very supportive of me and vice versa. "We are not that much competitive with each other. We must be strange that way. I know as he knows how hard it is to make it in this league so we are happy for each other no matter who shines more or who shines less." Valeri does have something to say about the position and role they might be playing out there when the puck drops on Sunday. "When we talk about who is going to be playing more defensively out there, it certainly be me! Pavel will be right there by the red line," he laughed. "But it will be a pretty open game, so even the defensive player will get their chance. Everybody comes here to have fun and put a great show for the fans. That's what it is all about!" Pavel Bure is leading the NHL goal scoring contest coming to the All-Star break with 37, just one ahead of Jagr and nine ahead of his brother. As far as his take on the prospect of playing together with his younger sibling and their roles on ice, Pavel has no advice for him. "If I end up playing with Valeri on the same line, it will certainly be great. I'm older, so I have to take more active role out there," Pavel joked. "But he is a great player himself, so it is not a big deal at all. "Once you are on the ice it doesn't matter who is older or who has or hasn't seniority. It is just a special moment that we are both playing for the same team in such a fun and relaxed environment."
Bure tight-lipped as All-Star game approaches With 37 goals in 44 games, no one in the NHL is hotter right now than Florida Panthers star Pavel Bure. Another 60-goal season is within reach for the Russian Rocket, who twice achieved those lofty targets (in 1992-93 and 1993-94) with the Vancouver Canucks. Alas, if only the 28-year-old from Moscow would allow us into his thoughts. He certainly didn't on Saturday, when a throng of media descended upon the game's top scorer on the eve of the 50th NHL all-star game. Bure gave short, one-line answers that revealed very little about himself. He won't even talk about his great season. "It's not over yet. Let's see how the season ends up," he said. "When I retire, I'll sit down and look at all these years and I'll think about which one I think was the most productive. But right now, I don't think about that stuff. I think about the next game." How can the NHL's most exciting player be so boring off the ice? When a reporter asked Bure how many goals he thought he could score this season, Bure quipped: "Thirty-seven, at least." Two metres to Pavel's left was younger brother Valeri, a first-time all-star from the Calgary Flames, holding court with other reporters. Valeri is night and day from his brother in the personality department. The gregarious 25-year-old even did a spoof for MuchMusic during his 30-minute interview session. Pavel left much earlier. "It's two different personalities," Valeri said, choosing his words carefully. "My brother is a different person. He may be not as open ... He just likes to do things differently than I do. That's the bottom line." The one time Pavel opened up slightly is when the topic was his brother. The Bure brothers are very close, calling each other two to three times a week. "I think this is his greatest season so far," Pavel said of Valeri, who has a career-high 28 goals this season. "He's playing so well, getting lots of points, and he's a real leader for the Calgary Flames. He's a good reason why Calgary is doing so well." The admiration is mutual. "He's smarter. He's been in the league for a few years. He knows the game inside out," Valeri says of his brother. The two brothers will play on the same line in Sunday's game. Valeri's not the only one impressed by Pavel. Ray Whitney, who centres Bure's line in Florida, couldn't stop talking about him. "He brings a lot more than goals to our lineup," Whitney said. "He brings everyone's game up on the team. That's what superstars are supposed to do." Whitney also shed some light on Bure's competitive fire, saying for example, that the Russian keeps statistics tracking his record on breakaways against opposing goalies. "I've never seen a guy who wants to score goals more than Pavel Bure," Whitney says. "He's just so competitive. We're playing ping-pong and he'll pump his fist in the air if he wins." Canadiens winger Martin Rucinsky got a first-hand look Wednesday when Bure scored twice in a 3-1 win over Montreal. "He's unbelievable," Rucinsky said. "He's so tough to play against. He's fast, he's always there, always getting scoring chances. And when he gets a scoring chance, it's almost 100 per cent it's going to be a goal. I don't think there's anyone hotter right now in the league." New Jersey Devils defenceman Scott Stevens put it bluntly: "If the puck gets out to him, it's in the net." Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman, who'll be behind the World team bench for today's game, has seen many stars in his five decades in the NHL. But he puts Bure in an elite group. "He's one of those few players that come along once in a while," said Bowman. "They have once thing on their mind and that's to put the puck into the net. (Mike) Bossy was like that. They don't seem to miss very many chances."
Panthers´ Bure Finds a Niche Under the Sun
 Pavel Bure, who some say has single-handedly turned the Panthers' fortunes around this season, is leading the National Hockey League in goals with 37. The South Beach section of Miami Beach would seem a strange place to search for anonymity. But there amid the models, the movie stars and the paparazzi, Pavel Bure, at long last, may have found peace of mind. Even though he is the National Hockey League's leading goal scorer at the All-Star Game break with 37 goals in 44 games, the blue-eyed Bure is just another pretty face off the ice. That stands even though he has miraculously -- some say single-handedly -- turned the Florida Panthers' sagging fortunes around. After undergoing a second major knee reconstruction last spring, Bure, whose legendary speed has earned him the nickname Russian Rocket, is back at full throttle. The Panthers, who sit comfortably atop the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference, are 21-2-2 this season in games in which Bure has scored a goal. Bure, who will play for the World team in the N.H.L. All-Star Game on Sunday, describes himself as a passionate person. Ever since he donned skates as a boy in Moscow, where he first gained fame at age 6, hockey has been his No. 1 passion. But after seven often entertaining, sometimes tempestuous seasons under the microscope in hockey-mad Canada, where he played for the Vancouver Canucks, Bure readily admitted that the thrill was gone. "The time comes where you have to go somewhere else and just have a new start," Bure said recently. "Fortunately, I came to a great organization in Florida, and obviously it has all worked out." And how. Despite a twice-rebuilt right knee, Bure has already broken nine team records, eight of them this season, including shattering the previous franchise mark for most goals (32). Bure is closing in on two more records, one for points -- with 61 he is 9 points shy -- and the other for shots on goals, where he is eight shy of the mark of 226. The Panthers, who collapsed last season after Bure reinjured his knee, are 4-4 this season without him in the lineup. That means they are 5-12-2 this season when Bure plays and does not score. "It can't be a coincidence when the stats are that overwhelming," Terry Murray, the Panthers' coach, said. In Vancouver, Bure lived the life of a teenage idol in a fishbowl. The most private details of his life were constantly on display. In South Florida, the 28-year-old right wing is just another celebrity. When he makes headlines, they are often about his possible romantic link to Anna Kournikova, a teenage tennis player who has been spotted at two Panthers games. At his new apartment in a high-rise building on Miami's beachfront -- a building where Kournikova also owns a home -- Bure is simply a hockey player in a football town. That is just fine with Bure, who forced the Canucks to trade him last winter after a bitter holdout. "I just don't want to talk about Vancouver anymore," Bure said. Not that he does not want to talk. Bure is quite willing, and seems quite happy, when the subject is Florida. "You can tell he's really enjoying himself," said Bure's 25-year-old brother, Valery, a member of the Calgary Flames who will play with his brother in the game Sunday. Pavel, who was selected to his fifth All-Star Game, and Valery are as close as siblings can be. Valery, who has scored a career-high 28 goals, tied for fifth in the league, said they speak at least four times a week, sometimes every day. "He just sounds like a happier guy," Valery Bure said. Islanders forward Gino Odjick, who was Pavel Bure's closest friend on the Canucks, said: "Here, he's a lot less recognized. He can go out to eat. He can go to the shopping malls. He's a lot more relaxed. There are no bags under his eyes anymore." Not that Bure has forsaken the South Beach night life. "But there's a little more privacy in the big cities," Bure said. "I'm originally from Moscow. It's like New York, Chicago, Miami. There are just more things to do." The Panthers, who moved into a sparkling new suburban arena last season, are hoping that Bure's presence will make going to a hockey game one of the hipper things to do in South Florida. But attendance is down this season, perhaps because the novelty of the arena has worn off a bit. "We had 5,000 more seats to sell," Bill Torrey, Florida's team president, said. "We needed something to make a statement. Pavel's persona, his aura, goes beyond what he does on the ice. We needed that. That was part of the reason we paid the price we did. There is no player more exciting to watch." And no one scores goals with Bure's flair. Not Jaromir Jagr. Not Paul Kariya. Not Teemu Selanne. Not Eric Lindros. That is why the Panthers signed Bure, who scored his 300th career goal earlier this season, to a five-year deal after obtaining him from Vancouver on Jan. 17, 1999. Bure is guaranteed $47.5 million. Florida holds an option for a sixth year that would push the total value to $58 million. "He's really turned us back to where this team was when it went to the Stanley Cup finals," Murray said, referring to 1996, when the Panthers trapped their way to the final round. With one major exception. "We were a boring team," said General Manager Bryan Murray, who is the brother of the Panthers' coach. "Now we're one of the most exciting." All because of Bure, who prowls behind the blue line like a shark in shallow water: waiting, waiting, waiting, for an opponent's mistake to turn into another opportunity to score. Some say he lingers to pick goals like cherries, but the results are impressive. Bure had two 60-goal seasons with Vancouver. "He unnerves the defensemen," Denis Potvin, a Hall of Fame defenseman who is a television analyst for Panthers games, said. "If you make a mistake, it's in the net. Goalies just don't stop this guy. And he's scored every which way." Bure's journey to peace and success has been eventful and trying. Last year there was the holdout, the trade, the contract, the knee injury, the operation, the comeback, the tax problems in Canada, an unflattering biography and the renewed allegations of ties to the Russian Mafia. "All my life I guess, I don't know what it is, but something's going to happen every week or two," Bure said. "Sometimes it's good things. Sometimes it's bad things. But I like excitement. And my life is exciting." Bure has made his new teammates better, simply by forcing them to just keep up. Bure's linemate Viktor Kozlov is having the year of his career, with 14 goals and 36 assists. Potvin called the 24-year-old Kozlov the Panthers' most consistent player this season. "Just look at the difference between Kozlov last year and this year," Potvin said. "That epitomizes the impact Pavel Bure has had." And to think Bure was almost traded to the Rangers instead. But Vancouver's general manager, Brian Burke, wanted Niklas Sundstrom, Dan Cloutier, Manny Malhotra and the Rangers' top pick in the 1999 draft. "Neil balked at putting Manny in," Burke said, referring to Neil Smith, the Rangers' general manager. Burke added that he would not have made the deal if he were Smith. So Bure, along with defensemen Bret Hedican and Brad Ference, ended up with the Panthers, traded for Ed Jovanovski, Kevin Weekes, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown and a first-round pick in the 2000 draft. Weekes has since been traded. Gagner has retired. Brown is in the minor leagues. And Bure leads the league in goals. Not that everyone feels that Burke, who inherited the Bure mess, was fully to blame for a trade he still defends. As one general manager who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: "Brian was a first-year manager. And that's a very tough trade to win." As much as Bure wanted out of Vancouver -- because of issues ranging from his privacy to a tough travel schedule to perceived slights from previous regimes -- the team's fans had grown weary of Bure's repeated trade demands, which dated to early in his career. "I think what he did was wrong," Burke said. "But I don't think he's a bad kid at all." Before this season, Wayne Gretzky caused a minor sensation by saying he would not have retired had the Rangers been able to swing a deal for Bure last spring. "I think it's the biggest compliment I ever received or ever will receive in my life," Bure said. "I consider him the best player to ever play the game, and there is nobody else who will ever get close. "New York is one of the best cities in the world and the Rangers are one of the original teams. But I'm really happy where I am right now. I wouldn't change a thing."
All-Star skills results
 Pavel did not compete in any individual events, but was entered instead in two team shooting competitions. Richter slammed the door in the rapid fire (shots from the slot) competition, shuting out Pavol Demitra of St. Louis and Miro Satan of Buffalo as North America won the event. Joseph also faced Jaromir Jagr and Pavel Bure, the NHL's top two scorers, back-to-back in the rapid-fire event and stopped eight out of the nine shots they got away. Bure beat him on a deke American-born Mike Richter of the New York Rangers was the top goaltender, but it wasn't enough as the World team clinched the competition in the last event - the breakaways, in which 18 shooters from each team took shots on three of their opponent's goaltenders. Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph surrendered the decisive goals to Florida superstar Pavel Bure, Rucinsky and Joseph's Toronto Maple Leaf teammate Mats Sundin. In all, the World outscored North America 8-6 on breakaways.
Family Val-ues Val Bure leans back in his overstuffed couch, engaged in another laptop computer game battle with wife Candace. Daughter Natasha scoots across the room with her beloved Barney clutched tightly in her arms and jumps up with mom, pregnant with child No. 2, and dad. They're the picture of happiness. Life is good for the Bures. The summer home in Los Angeles, the fame of his hockey stardom, her celebrity as a child television star, the Lexus sport utility vehicle parked at their rented upscale condo in Mount Royal ... But the trappings are not what defines Val Bure. Life has not always been so good. Before the stardom, the wealth, the happiness, was a childhood struggle for survival. It is what defines both Val and superstar brother Pavel. They don't like to talk about it. Only to each other. The Bure family grew up in Moscow where Val says, "people live to survive each day." That was never a problem because dad, Vladimir, was a great athlete, a champion swimmer who was paid a relatively good wage. But when the career stopped and the marriage dissolved, Val and Pavel, eight and 11 years old, were left with mom to fend for themselves. "We struggled for a good seven years," says Val. "My mom had to go and work three jobs, cleaning, working at the grocery story, and then slowly Pavel started playing hockey and travelling and making a little money, then I started travelling and the ball started rolling slowly as we got salaries. "Sometimes my brother and I sit down now and talk for the longest time about the past. We can't believe where we came from -- like the times where we would share an apple once a week for three of us. It's really amazing. "There were times you had a hard time to find what to wear -- you have no clothes. I probably don't even know how bad the situation was with my mom. She was trying to manage everything on her own." It was hockey that saved the Bure family. As Pavel worked his way onto the Red Army junior team and then main team, he earned more and more money. Not great sums by North American standards, but it put food on the table and clothes on the boys. Val, of course, followed those same footsteps until Pavel made the jump to North America and he followed, leaving his life behind to play junior hockey in Spokane. "From the age of 15 and up, my lifestyle in Russia was awesome," says Val. "I was playing for the Red Army junior club but I was travelling a lot, playing for the Moscow Selects, the national junior team ... so I was seeing the world. "They gave us per diems, something like $60 a week. We'd exchange our pins for t-shirts and other stuff and then bring it back and sell it and make some money. "Of course, all of my money went to my mom because she was feeding us. But I had a great lifestyle then. "Once I came over here, it changed because I had a lot of friends growing up and then there were lots of nice people, but if you can't communicate, it is very hard to make friends. "It was tough for the first year and a half. I felt kind of left out, but the people I stayed with were great, they really helped Americanize me and make me comfortable." Yet while those days in Moscow are now fond memories, Val has never returned home in the nine years since he left. He fears the Russian military will hold him for his mandatory military service. "One time, my brother told me it was OK to go back, but just before I went, he called and said stay away because they're sending everyone to Chechnya. "He knows a lot of high-power people and they said it was OK, but there everything can change in one day. "That's why I've never gone back. The first couple of years, I really wanted to go back but now I've got a new life -- family and friends here. "I have two grandmothers there, but not many friends still there. I had one good friend who was killed. There's really nothing left there for me, maybe because I haven't been there in nine years." His relationship with his father is cordial, but distant. "It didn't work out between my parents, and then my dad slowly came back into our lives and he came over here with us to North America," says Val. "He's been training us on and off during the summer. We keep in contact, but it's not really close, not like a father-son relationship. "It's just that things didn't work out. There is no bitterness. If I see him, we will go out. He has a new family now, so everything worked out. "My mom is back home in Moscow. She comes over at least twice a year but doesn't like the cold weather. She usually comes in for two weeks and then says she misses her home, but last time she visited Pavel, she stayed for a month and a half. "She's coming in for the all-star game." The entire Bure family will be reunited in Toronto. Candace has brought along the family doctor and booked a hospital room just in case child No. 2 comes a couple of weeks early. It's become a fairy-tale life for the Bure brothers. Typically, Val's marriage to Candace, a star in the television show Full House, in 1996, was the result of a love-at-first- sight chance meeting. It's a story Candace loves to tell. "We met at a charity hockey game through Dave Coulier who was on Full House with me," she laughs. "He plays hockey in celebrity leagues and there was a charity game with some pros and Val and Pavel were in it. "They'd talked to Dave before at practices so they went up to Dave and said they really liked Full House. They watched it every day because it was on when they woke up from their afternoon naps. So they'd drink their tea and coffee and watch Full House. "So Dave told me about the game and said there were these two really nice Russian guys he met and he would introduce me and I said OK. "I was not a hockey fan at all -- I had no idea who they were. "The whole Full House gang went to the game for fun, and Val and I met after the game and we exchanged numbers and that was it. "He was the only guy I ever gave my number to, so there was something there right away. "He called me the next morning and I was shocked. We went out to lunch and then after lunch we met again for dinner that night and then the day after he had to leave for Montreal. "We just talked on the phone for about two or three months before we ever saw each other again and then he flew me up to Fredericton (minors). "It was really interesting the way it worked out. At that time, it was the last year for me on Full House, so our schedule was we worked three weeks and then got a week off. So every week off, I was flying to Fredericton to see him. "And then one night before I was going to see him, that was when he got called up to Montreal so that was much better. "It worked out well so then with the show ending we got to spend lots of time together. It was perfect." The Bures now keep their off-season home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., between Santa Monica and Malibu. They are confessed home-bodies. "Pavel is the jet setter who loves to party," laughs Val. "A great night for us is to have a barbecue, friends over, a good bottle of wine, use the jacuzzi -- that's the best. "To me, it's always been the family that is so important. I'm not a big party guy." "That is rare in hockey," laughs Candace. "I lucked out." Indeed, luck has seemed to follow the Bure family. Their lives have changed immeasurably. And yet they haven't. "I love our lives now," says Val, as he cuddles 18-month old Natasha. "But now you look back at those times when we were struggling in Moscow and I tell you they were the hardest times, but they were the best times because we were so close. "That's how you survive -- you tighten up as a family and you work your way up. "We were always together so that was really cool -- even though we struggled just to live. "I appreciate everything I have now, but no matter what we have I know that the most important thing isn't about money. "It's family."
NHL marvels at Bure's amazing season, but he's not talking about it With 37 goals in 44 games, no one in the NHL is hotter right now than Florida Panthers star Pavel Bure. Another 60-goal season is within reach for the Russian Rocket, who twice achieved those lofty targets in 1992-93 and 1993-94 with the Vancouver Canucks. Alas, if only the 28-year-old from Moscow would allow us into his thoughts. He certainly didn't on Saturday when a throng of media descended upon the game's top scorer on the eve of the 50th NHL all-star game. Bure gave short, one-line answers that revealed very little about himself. He won't even talk about his great season. "It's not over yet. Let's see how the season ends up," he said. "When I retire, I'll sit down and look at all these years and I'll think about which one I think was the most productive. But right now, I don't think about that stuff. I think about the next game." How can the NHL's most exciting player be so boring off the ice? When a reporter asked Bure how many goals he thought he could score this season, Bure quipped: "Thirty-seven, at least." Two metres to Pavel's left was younger brother Valeri, a first-time all-star from the Calgary Flames, holding court with other reporters. Valeri is night and day from his brother in the personality department. The gregarious 25-year-old even did a spoof for MuchMusic during his 30-minute interview session. Pavel left much earlier. "It's two different personalities," Valeri said, choosing his words carefully. "My brother is a different person. He may be not as open ... He just likes to do things differently than I do. That's the bottom line." The one time Pavel opened up slightly is when the topic was his brother. The Bure brothers are very close, calling each other two to three times a week. "I think this is his greatest season so far," Pavel said of Valeri, who has a career-high 28 goals this season. "He's playing so well, getting lots of points, and he's a real leader for the Calgary Flames. He's a good reason why Calgary is doing so well." The admiration is mutual. "He's smarter. He's been in the league for a few years. He knows the game inside out," Valeri says of his brother. The two brothers will play on the same line in today's game (3 p.m. EST, CBC). Valeri's not the only one impressed by Pavel. Ray Whitney, who centres Bure's line in Florida, couldn't stop talking about him. "He brings a lot more than goals to our lineup," Whitney said. "He brings everyone's game up on the team. That's what superstars are supposed to do." Whitney also shed some light on Bure's competitive fire, saying for example, that the Russian keeps statistics tracking his record on breakaways against opposing goalies. "I've never seen a guy who wants to score goals more than Pavel Bure," Whitney says. "He's just so competitive. We're playing ping-pong and he'll pump his fist in the air if he wins." Canadiens winger Martin Rucinsky got a first-hand look Wednesday when Bure scored twice in a 3-1 win over Montreal. "He's unbelievable," Rucinsky said. "He's so tough to play against. He's fast, he's always there, always getting scoring chances. And when he gets a scoring chance, it's almost 100 per cent it's going to be a goal. I don't think there's anyone hotter right now in the league." New Jersey Devils defenceman Scott Stevens put it bluntly: "If the puck gets out to him, it's in the net." Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman, who'll be behind the World team bench for today's game, has seen many stars in his five decades in the NHL. But he puts Bure in an elite group. "He's one of those few players that come along once in a while," said Bowman. "They have once thing on their mind and that's to put the puck into the net. (Mike) Bossy was like that. They don't seem to miss very many chances."
Russian siblings an all-star first Val Bure?" the writer asks. Yes," answers Bure, and off they go to chat, the writer trying to hide his amazement at how small and fragile Bure looks without his shoulder pads and uniform. Of course, most everybody who meets Bure expects him to be a carbon copy of his older brother Pavel, the Florida Panthers human dynamo. Pavel Bure stands 5 foot 10, the same height as his brother, but outweighs him by 20 pounds of fast-twitch, high-speed muscle. Watch the Bures play the same right wing position and the differences between them are even more distinct. When Pavel slips into high gear, it's like a dragster exploding off the start line. You check the ice for scorch marks. When Val skates, it's all darts and dashes and tight little circles. When Pavel scores, we're talking goals that can blow your mind, replay specials. When Val scores, it's a quick shot from the slot, stuff you applaud then have a hard time remembering. And yet styles and physique aside, the fabulous Bure boys stand on the brink of a National Hockey League rarity. This weekend at the NHL's all-star game in Toronto, they will become the 12th pair of siblings -- not to mention, the first Russian siblings -- to appear in the same all-star game. More important, they could finish the season as only the third brother act in NHL history to lead their respective teams in scoring in the same year. The first to do it were Dennis and Bryan Hextall in 1970-71. Dennis was a California Golden Seal, Bryan a Pittsburgh Penguin. The last were the Brotens in 1982-83 when Neal played for the Minnesota North Stars and Aaron was a New Jersey Devil. Given their current pace, the Bures will easily eclipse the scoring numbers of the Hextalls and Brotens. Already, Pavel has 37 goals and 61 points in 50 games. Val's totals after 53 games included a career-high 28 goals along with 24 assists. Both players are at least 10 points ahead of their closest teammate and basking in each other's glory. " We talk all the time," Val said of his long-distance relationship with his brother. "I congratulated him when he was named player of the month and when he scored 30 goals, and he calls to congratulate me when I've had a good game. He's one of the best players in the world and he's always supported me, but we don't talk a lot about hockey. We talk about family and what's going on in our lives." To know the Bures, even as an outsider, is to wonder how there could be so many differences between them. Val Bure, 25, is forever upbeat and cordial. He will do interviews until every reporter's pen has run out of ink. Recently, a CBC reporter asked him to sing a line from The Twelve Days of Christmas. A lot of athletes would have told the reporter to take a walk. Bure laughed and sang his line about eight maids a milking in Russian. "Going to the all-star game is a big thing," Val said of his first-time invitation. "My mom will be there, my brother. We'll have a big group of friends. But I'm excited about the baby. She [Bure's wife, actress Candace Cameron-Bure] is due in three weeks. We've called a doctor and we have a hospital bed ready in case something happens in Toronto. It's good to have a back-up plan." Bure and his wife, who starred in the TV series Full House, met during a celebrity charity hockey game in Los Angeles. They began dating and were married 3½ years ago with Pavel assisting as the best man. Val Bure and his wife already have a one-year-old daughter named Natasha and are planning to have more children after their second arrives. "My wife's from a big family and we both like kids," Bure explained. "My brother? He likes to have an exciting life. That's what he lives for. In the summer, I'll talk to him in the morning and he'll say he's relaxing on the beach. Then he'll call me the next morning and say he's relaxing in the mountains. I'll say, 'Mountains? Where are you?' And he'll say, 'In Switzerland.' He loves to travel." Pavel Bure, 28 and ever so single, is less cordial than his younger brother and a great deal moodier. Some nights after games, Pavel will shower and exit without talking to the media. When he does talk, his responses are often short and structured. There's also his past to consider. For all the great things he did as a Vancouver Canuck, including back-to-back 60-goal seasons, Bure drew his share of criticism. Vancouver fans remember the story from the 1994 Stanley Cup final against the New York Rangers when it was reported Bure had threatened not to play unless his contract was renegotiated. Bure denied everything but the story tarnished his image. Then there was the holdout that led to him being traded to Florida in January, 1999. At the time, Bure refused to explain why he wanted out of Vancouver and took another p.r. hit. As for his personal life, Pavel could be an episode of The Jerry Springer Show under the heading, "Famous athlete linked to Russian mafia and tennis star Anna Kournikova." Asked about Kournikova in an NHL media conference call on Dec. 21, Bure replied: "Well, you know, I thought we were going to talk about hockey. My private life is mine so I will not talk about my private life." Recently, in a 10-page layout in Sports Illustrated, Bure was a bit more forthcoming. "I'd rather have crap and great stuff in my life than just be in the middle with no great stuff and no crap," he was quoted as saying. For Bure, the mixture of greatness and crap has been about equal. Soon after he signed a five-year, $47.5-million (U.S.) deal with Florida, he blew out his right knee. For all his successes, Pavel and his father Vladimir, a former Olympic swimmer whose father had been exiled to Siberia by Stalin, haven't spoken since 1998. Vladimir pushed his boys to be the best but he pushed too hard. Val Bure has also not spoken to his dad in two years. It is the only ripple in an otherwise idyllic life. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Every family has discussions and breakdowns," Val said. "Sometimes you don't talk to friends or your family. I'm sure everything will be fine. We just need some time to cool down."
Val Bure left Moscow for North America in 1991 at the age of 17. While Vancouver had already drafted Pavel, Val needed to show hockey scouts what he could do. In his second season with the Spokane Chiefs, Val Bure scored 68 goals in 66 games and was selected to the Western Hockey League's first all-star team. The Montreal Canadiens made him their second pick in the 1992 entry draft and were delighted when he scored 23 times in 45 games in the American Hockey League. But over the course of three seasons, the Canadiens began to lose faith in the younger Bure. They saw him as talented but not big or strong enough to be a consistent scorer in the NHL. Just before the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan, where the Bure brothers played together on Russia's silver medal-winning team, Valeri was traded to Calgary for Jonas Hoglund (now a Toronto Maple Leaf) and Zarley Zalapski (no longer in the NHL). Of all the trades made by Flames' general manager Al Coates, this may be his equivalent of the great train robbery. "We had been asking for a trade for a long time. [The Canadiens] wanted me on one of their top lines or they were going to move me," said Valeri Bure. "Every time you're moved you're looking for a fresh start and when I came here there were so many young guys trying to prove themselves and I was one of them. Then Theo [Fleury] left and that left a lot of ice time for everybody else." Bure's 10 power-play goals and five game winners have kept the Flames in playoff contention and made him a popular face in Calgary. The team's front office now weeds through the many requests for his time to determine what he can and can't do, especially as the all-star game and a second child loom. "What else can you ask for? A new baby, being in the all-star game, seeing my family. It's crazy, but it's good crazy," he said. The kind you'd expect from the family-man Bure with the interminable charm.
ALL-STAR BROTHERS IN ARMS1. Charlie (Toronto) and Lionel Conacher (Chicago) in 1935
2. Max and Doug Bentley (both from Chicago) in 1948, 1950, 1952
Valeri Bure's family all set for NHL all-star weekend The bags are packed, Mom is flying in from Russia, big brother is coming from Miami, little Natasha is looked after, the doctor is coming too and a hospital bed is already booked. Valeri Bure and his family are ready for their first NHL all-star game. With Bure's wife, Candace, expecting their second child in a couple of weeks, this all-star game has become a lesson in logistics. "I didn't want to miss the game, so we've got our doctor and his wife coming, and the hospital bed is booked, just in case," Candace Bure, a former star of the television series Full House, told the Calgary Sun. The upcoming birth of their second child, combined with Valeri's reuniting with his brother, Pavel, on the World Team, has eclipsed even the actual all-star selection in importance for the Calgary Flames forward. Yet, this is very much a reflection on the emergence of the younger Bure as a star in his own right. The Bures will become the eighth brother-brother combination to play in the all-star game, but more importantly they are on pace to become the highest-scoring siblings in NHL history. "It's so exciting to be selected as an all-star, but I think the main thing is just to be able to see everybody, to have dinners and share the experience with your family," Valeri Bure said. "My mom is going to be there, my brother, of course, my wife . . . it's just going to be a great group. "We never really get to get together, even in summer. It's a big reunion for us. It's going to be awesome."
Bure brothers finally on the same team Former Full House television star Candace Cameron hopes her husband, Valeri Bure, delivers at the NHL All-Star Game and she does not. Cameron, who played D.J. Tanner, is within three weeks of her delivery date for the couple's second child. But she insists on making the trip from the couple's home in Los Angeles to Toronto to watch his first All-Star appearance. "This is his turn to shine, and I want to be there," she says. "I had my turn and loved it. Now it's onderful for me to have a break. I love doing everything for him and the family, and he tells me it's going to be the same in return. After he's done playing, he wants to stay home with the kids and I'm going to start pursuing a career again."
Bure's All-Star berth is the reward for his development as the Calgary Flames' offensive catalyst. His breakthrough is one of the significant reasons the Flames have exceeded expectations. What makes his selection sweeter is he gets to play on the same All-Star team with his older brother Pavel. "It would be really cool if we play together, but I'm just looking forward to spending some time with him," Valeri says. Cameron sees it differently. "They like that part the best," she says. "But I want to see them play on the same line. That will be the exciting part." The Russian-born brothers, who had never been on the same team, have a similar style; they like to jet up ice like an F-15 across a low horizon. Pavel is among the world's fastest players, and Valeri is comfortable at high tempo. But everyone says the two are far different away from the ice. Pavel likes the bright lights. Valeri likes to stay home and show his 18-month-old daughter, Natasha, that her mother is on the television screen. In the summer, Pavel goes to Moscow, where he is a prominent member of the highest social circles. Valeri goes to Los Angeles, happy to play house with his actress-wife. "They are incredibly different, and yet they couldn't be closer," Cameron says. " They talk to each other all the time ." Pavel laughs at talk about how different they are. "Right now, I enjoy my life that I have, but someday I might be more like (Valeri)." That doesn't seem far-fetched to Panthers general manager Bryan Murray. "You watch him and he's full of energy, always showered and dressed and ready to go quickly after a game. Other times, you look at him and he's very quiet. You think, 'This is the same guy I read about all the time?' I wouldn't be surprised that he ends up more (like) Valeri." The Valeri Bure-Cameron love story seems worthy of a TV script. Introduced by Full House star Dave Coulier, a hockey nut who knew the Bures, the two found that though they grew up on different continents, they had much in common. She had been acting since she was 5. As the son of an Olympic swimmer and brother of a hockey phenom, Valeri also grew up in the public eye. They also discovered they had the same outlook about having a family. She's her husband's biggest fan, going so far as e-mailing all of her friends and asking them to round up Internet votes to get her husband on the All-Star squad. That didn't work, which was why she was thrilled when he was named as a reserve. "She was screaming when I told her," Valeri says. "She was jumping up and down, and I was saying slow down. You are 7½-months pregnant. She was way more excited than I was."
Pavel, a superstar since he entered the league, shared Cameron's excitement. "I'm very proud of my brother," he says. "He deserves this opportunity. He's worked very hard to get here." When Cameron announced she was going to the game, Valeri was concerned, "but once she made up her mind, she was not going to change it." "He's going to be in many All-Star games," she says. "But there will only be one first." By coincidence, her doctor already had planned to attend the game. He made arrangements with a Toronto hospital in case Cameron goes into labor. She agreed, but not at first.
Cameron has nothing against Canadians. "I already have two citizenships in my family - American and Russian," she says. "I don't need a third."
Mid-season stats
NHL All-Star preview Flanking Sundin in the starting lineup are supposed to be Jagr, who garnered a record total in fan balloting, and Teemu Selanne of the Mighty Ducks. If Jagr is unable to go, Florida Panthers right wing Pavel Bure should get the nod. While Jagr leads the NHL in assists and points, Bure leads with 36 goals and may be the league's most exciting player. "I did talk to (NHL vice president) Colin Campbell a few days ago and he mentioned they were going to wait until as close as they could to have some alternate plans," said World coach Scotty Bowman of the Detroit Red Wings. "Obviously, those are big named players, but I think it's pretty hard for a player to play in an All-Star Game without having played the previous game with his team."
All-Star events schedule Today All day hockey game, Nathan Phillips Square 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. - CHL Top Prospects Practice Maple Leaf Gardens (MLG) 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. - CHL Top Prospects Skills (MLG) Wed., Feb. 2 All day Labatt Marathon Hockey Game, Nathan Phillips Square 9 a.m. - NHL FANtasy Ceremonial Opening MTCC 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 p.m. - CHL Top Prospects Game day skate at Maple Leaf Gardens 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. - NHL FANtasy, MTCC 6 p.m. - Conn Smythe Dinner MTCC - North 7 p.m. - CHL Top Prospects Game, Air Canada Centre Thurs., Feb. 3 All day Labatt Marathon Hockey Game at Nathan Phillips Square 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. - CHA Women's Practice, Maple Leaf Gardens 11 a.m. to noon - U.S.A. Women's Practice, MLG 11 a.m. - Canada Post Stamp Launch (TBA) 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. - NHL FANtasy, MTCC Fri., Feb. 4 8 a.m. - Labatt Marathon Hockey Conclusion, Nathan Phillips Square 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. - U.S.A. Women's Practice, MLG 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. - CHA Women's Team Practice, Maple Leaf Gardens 11 a.m. - Dodge SuperShot Competition, Nathan Phillips Square 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. - NHL FANtasy, MTCC 2:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Heroes of Hockey Practice, Maple Leaf Gardens 7:30 p.m. - U.S.A. vs. Canada Women's Game at Air Canada Centre Sat., Feb. 5 9 a.m. to Noon - McDonald's All-Star Practices, Air Canada Centre 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. - North America All-Star Practice 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. - World All-Star Practice 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. - NHL FANtasy, MTCC 6:45 p.m. - NHL All-Star Heroes of Hockey Game; FedEx SuperSkills Competition; Hockey Fights Cancer Presentation, Air Canada Centre 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. - NHL All-Star Reception, National Trade Centre at Exhibition Place Sun., Feb. 6 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - NHL FANtasy, MTCC 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. - 50th NHL All-Star Game, Air Canada Centre 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. - NHL All-Star Celebration, MTCC
All Star Magazine advertisement
The 'All Star Game 2000' official program for this weekend's NHL showcase in Toronto, unlike recent previous issues, does not contain any articles or photos of Pavel, save for a Bauer advertisemnt, which we have included here.
Bure set to seize All-Star spotlight What's All-Star Weekend without a few sharpshooters? ESPN's Bill Clement sizes up the forwards and says the game is made for Pavel Bure. "I like him because there'll be more open ice than usual in a game like this. He has to be patient normal during games to wait for an opening, but there will be far more holes and far more chances for him to break away. It's a non-checking game. Pavel knows how to find the seams. I'll be shocked if Pavel doesn't have at least two breakaways on Sunday. First, there's not as much attention to defense. Then, there's more open ice for him to wind up. And three, the people doing the passing can all see the big play."
Best of the rest
Bure nets two as Panthers dump Montreal SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- When Pavel Bure scores, the Florida Panthers are tough to beat. When the Russian Rocket scores multiple times, they are unbeatable. Bure had two goals Wednesday night to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. He leads the NHL with 37 goals, one more than Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr. The Panthers improved to 21-2-2 when Bure scores and are undefeated in eight games when he gets more than one goal. "I'm still wondering how he gets open," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "Everybody knows he's out there, and all of sudden he appears, he disappears and there he is again. We're starting to get used to him now. It was nice to see the way Pavel came alive." Florida took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Bure gathered a pass from Viktor Kozlov, just inside the blue line, and skated untouched into the left circle, slipping a shot between the legs of Montreal goalie Jose Theodore. The Canadiens tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 14:38 of the second. Sergei Zholtok one-timed a pass from Dainius Zubrus for his 15th goal. But Bure answered 83 seconds later with a goal right in front of the net. Bret Hedican's shot from just inside the blue line rebounded to Kozlov, who found Bure alone on the right side of the net. "We had a plan, but like most teams that try to stop him that plan didn't work," Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's up there pretty much in a league by himself. You can only compare him to a few players. "When he's on, he's very tough." Kozlov set a career high for assists in a season with 36 and scored the Panthers' third goal with a little less than seven minutes to play. Bure was thwarted on two other scoring chances. He was stopped by Theodore on a breakaway in the first period and hit the post on a power play in the third. "There was a lot of intensity, and that's why we had so many opportunities," Bure said. The win was much needed for the Panthers, who had lost four of seven games. Florida, 19-5-2 at home, does not play again until after this weekend's All-Star break. "It's a good time for a break. It's been a grind," Florida forward Scott Mellanby said. "We'll come back refreshed, not only physically, but mentally. And hopefully this win will carry over." The Canadiens had won five of eight. "Unfortunately we meet a team that was ready to redeem itself after a few bad games," Vigneault said. "They're not one of the top teams in the league for nothing. We expected them to show up and play well, and they did exactly that."
Top of his game Last season the Florida Panthers acquired Pavel Bure with the vision of a Stanley Cup dancing in their heads. But a couple of key injuries shut Bure down earlier than expected last season, and the Panthers missed the playoffs. This year, the Russian Rocket has been cleared for takeoff and the Panthers are reaping the dividends. In the games that Bure has played for Florida, the Panthers have sported an impressive 25-14-7-2 record, while in games that Bure has missed, Florida is only 4-4-0-1. That is why, without a doubt, Pavel Bure is my league MVP. The Panthers are in first place in their division right now, and just six points behind the Devils for the top spot in the East. Without Bure, they would be a lot more like the other team in South Florida, the Tampa Bay Lightning, than they would a top-flight hockey club. I talked to Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke and he told me it made him sick to have to deal Bure, but with the economics in hockey the way that they are, there was no way they could afford to keep Bure in Vancouver. So they dealt him to Florida and got Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Kevin Weekes, Mike Brown and a first-round pick in return for one of the best players in the game. Those players come nowhere close to giving the Canucks what Bure has given the Panthers, but they did the best they could. After all, can the Mariners really get fair market value for Ken Griffey Jr.? What makes Bure so special is his speed and accuaracy. He is faster than Kurt Warner's rise to stardom and more accurate than Greg Maddux on the mound. Bure is like a Magic Johnson-type player; not only is he great, but he makes his teammates much better also. The Panthers may not have the league's best goaltending or defense, but as long as they have a player who can put pressure on opponents netminders, they will continue to win. Other than Jaromir Jagr, there may be no one who can put as much pressure on an opposing goalie as Bure. The Panthers have slumped of late, and Bure's subpar play can be linked as a direct result. They have won just once in their last four games and Bure has just one goal in that span. For the season, when Bure scores a goal, the Panthers are an incredible 20-2-2. So if he doesn't get on the board, the Panthers struggle. That is why no matter how good the Panthers are with Bure, I still don't think they will win the Stanley Cup. As long as they can play the Islanders, Lightning, Canadiens and Thrashers of the NHL, Florida will continue to win. But when they have to face the Devils and Flyers in the playoffs, they could be in trouble. The good teams in the league can shut down a single player. If Bure gets shut down, so do the Panthers' chances of winning. That is why he is my Hart Trophy winner this year. In all the hockey I have watched so far this season, no one player is more important to the success of his team as Bure is to the Panthers.
CheapShots ANNA'S GOLDEN TOUCH — If there's one thing Anna Kournikova likes more than tennis, it's hockey players. Last year, she gave Sergei Federov a trial run and completely turned around the second half of his season. This campaign, she's reportedly been skating with Pavel Bure, and the Russian Rocket has really exploded. Obviously, both players were impressed with her portfolio. But now we think it's time for Anna to move on to someone who could really use her help — like Alexander Mogilny. So Alexander, my comrade. What are you waiting for? While you're sitting on the bench, send flowers or something. Before she decides to switch to tennis players. Fantasy Tip: Russian players are no longer dominant in this league. Sergei Berezin and Dmitri Khristich are having off years. Look for a second half surge. Igor Larionov and Slava Kozlov have not been the solid connection they were in previous seasons. This situation should correct itself. Even if he had Kournikova, Alexei Kovalev would still be a waste. Victor Kozlov and Valeri Bure are the only Ruskies having above average seasons. They must be dating Anna vicariously through Pavel. CAT-NIPPED Vancouver GM Brian Burke is the proud designer of that wonderful Pavel Bure trade that brought the Canucks the marginally talented Kevin Weekes and Ed Jovanovski. His latest snafu was swapping the skillful Bill Muckalt for Felix "The Cat" Potvin — and we thought cats only had nine lives. He hasn't been successful since 1993 and now he's back in his usual position — injured. Vancouver made it to the Stanley Cup Finals twice in twenty years. That's more than most teams. Just don't expect to see it again until Burke is put out to pasture. Pavel Bure - Left Vancouver because he didn't want to be listed next to Brian Burke in the phone book.
A sizzling brother act Valeri Bure laughs when he compares the high-tech showbiz atmosphere around the NHL all-star game to his and brother Pavel's crude pickup games around Moscow years ago. "Of course, every ice surface in Russia is outside," the Flames hot-shooting right winger began. "You had half the guys on skates and half of them not. You had to make sure the guys on skates were split evenly." When they suit up Sunday for the World team at the Air Canada Centre, it will represent the first brother pairing on the World team under the new format. "I'm looking forward to it," Valeri said. "Our mother and my wife will be coming to Toronto and Pavel and I haven't played together for a couple of years. He was in Vancouver when I was in (the Western Hockey League) and now he's (in another conference). "This will be something we can't do in the regular season, go all out on offence." This will be Pavel's fifth NHL all-star game and Valeri's first. When the season resumes, the brothers have a chance for a rarely accomplished feat -- leading their respective teams in offence. It's only happened twice in NHL history; Dennis and Bryan Hextall, with California and Pittsburgh on 1970-71, and Neal and Aaron Broten in 1982-83 with Minnesota and New Jersey, respectively.
Bure, Kozlov roll over Montreal
 "Pavel Bure scores his second goal of the night." Big nights from the Panthers' All-Star Game performers Wednesday night at National Car Rental Center allowed Florida to go into the All-Star break on a positive note. Allowing only 17 shots says much for the Panthers' defensive effort in a 3-1 victory over Montreal. As for the team offensive effort, it was said with "Pavel Bure" and "Viktor Kozlov," the two Panthers who will be in this weekend's All-Star Game in Toronto. Bure, conspicuous in his minuteness the past few games, picked up his 36th and 37th goals of the season to take the NHL lead from Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr. Getting a goal and the first assist on each Bure goal was center Viktor Kozlov, who now has a career-high 36 assists this season. Kozlov's wrister from outside the left circle with 6:43 remaining iced the game for the Panthers. No other player has benefited as much from Bure nor contributed as much to his success this season. "We made the trade for Pavel, and it looks like we got two good players out of the deal," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. Murray juggled the defensive pairings and asked for a more complete game from his forwards, whose inattentiveness in the defensive zone has been as much to blame as anything for Florida's recent troubles there. "We've struggled lately; we know that," Panthers captain Scott Mellanby said. "It wasn't just to win, but how we played -- we took the body and were feistier." If Montreal goalie Jose Theodore had been the sleepy sieve Tampa's Kevin Hodson was on New Year's Day, Bure easily could have put up another four-goal game as he did on Jan. 1. Kozlov sent Bure in on a breakaway three minutes after his first goal, but Theodore stopped Bure's original try for the five-hole, then again on the rebound. Not 20 seconds after Bure's second goal, he and Kozlov were back on a two-on-one. Again, the rebound of Bure's initial shot went back to Bure, but this time he went high -- and hit the crossbar. At the end, Bure was racing for an empty netter when Montreal defenseman Karl Dykhuis managed to corral him enough to prevent a shot. Bure also drew a penalty when Montreal defenseman Eric Weinrich hauled him down as Kozlov found him with another home run pass up the middle. Getting his first start since Jan. 15 was Panthers goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov. Shtalenkov had a relatively easy night and was beaten only on Sergei Zholtok's quick whip from high in the right circle at 14:38 of the second period. That tied the score -- for all of 1:23. Kozlov drove the puck deep, blocked a clearing attempt, fed Bret Hedican at the left point out of the right corner and got the rebound of Hedican's shot. After all that, he fed Bure at the right post for what turned out to be the game-winner. The NHL phoned all the coaches whose teams were playing Wednesday night to inform them officials would be henceforth more stringent on obstruction and crease violations. Apparently, the memo did not reach the hotel of referee Kerry Fraser, who allowed the usual amount of holdups and picks. An alert and quick headmanning of the puck from defenseman Dan Boyle to Kozlov caught Montreal coming out of their zone as the Panthers were preparing reentry. Kozlov passed to his left, where Bure was flying into the Montreal zone. Bure beat Theodore between the legs 4:06 into the game. Despite the Panthers dominating the first period, the lead remained only 1-0 as the game scraped through the second period. A hug on the forecheck from Panthers left wing Peter Worrell on Montreal's Patrice Brisebois turned into a tackle, which was the penalty that led to Zholtok's goal.
Panthers get much-needed win before All-Star break
 "Pavel Bure scores two goals Wednesday night, but this isn't one of them." Florida Panthers are tough to beat. When the Russian Rocket scores multiple times, they are unbeatable. Bure had two goals Wednesday night to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. He leads the NHL with 37 goals, one more than Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr. The Panthers improved to 21-2-2 when Bure scores and are undefeated in eight games when he gets more than one goal. "I'm still wondering how he gets open," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "Everybody knows he's out there, and all of sudden he appears, he disappears and there he is again. We're starting to get used to him now. It was nice to see the way Pavel came alive." Florida took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Bure gathered a pass from Viktor Kozlov, just inside the blue line, and skated untouched into the left circle, slipping a shot between the legs of Montreal goalie Jose Theodore. The Canadiens tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 14:38 of the second. Sergei Zholtok one-timed a pass from Dainius Zubrus for his 15th goal. But Bure answered 83 seconds later with a goal right in front of the net. Bret Hedican's shot from just inside the blue line rebounded to Kozlov, who found Bure alone on the right side of the net. "We had a plan, but like most teams that try to stop him that plan didn't work," Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's up there pretty much in a league by himself. You can only compare him to a few players. "When he's on, he's very tough." Bure was thwarted on two other scoring chances. He was stopped by Theodore on a breakaway in the first period and hit the post on a power play in the third. "There was a lot of intensity, and that's why we had so many opportunities," Bure said.
When Pavel scores, the Panthers win Florida improved to 21-2-2 this season when Pavel Bure scores a goal, using his two tallies and 16 saves by Mikhail Shtalenkov to earn a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Bure had one goal in his previous four games, which is a slump for him. With 37 goals, he forged one ahead of Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr for the NHL lead while playing two fewer games. "It's always nice to win before the break," said Bure, who will travel to Toronto for Sunday's All-Star Game. "We played really well tonight, we had a lot of intensity and that's why we had so many scoring chances." Bure had at least three quality chances to record his fourth hat trick of the season. "I had two goals for sure, I guess maybe I could have had a few more," he admitted. Bure took a pass from fellow All-Star Viktor Kozlov, skated down the left side of the slot and rifled a wrist shot through goaltender Jose Theodore's pads 4:06 into the game to start the scoring. Kozlov had a goal and set up each of Bure's scores. The Panthers are 8-0 when Bure records a multi-goal game. "It's nice to see the way Pavel came alive," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "He was skating well, darting, and he was getting the puck at the right time. I still wonder how he gets open. Everybody knows he's out there on the ice. All of a sudden he appears, he disappears and then there he is again." The Panthers had lost three of four, including Tuesday's 4-2 defeat at Carolina, and had scored two goals in each game during that span. "The message is going to be that we have to play a team game," Murray said about relying too much on Bure. "When we start looking for the individual efforts, we can't be successful. The team is bigger than any individual and we have to play a team game. The little things that we did tonight are the same little things that we have to do for the next 32 games." Panthers captain Scott Mellanby thinks it is the right time for Florida to hit the All-Star break. The Panthers have 67 points, a 10-point lead over second-place Washington and a 17-point bulge over Carolina in the Southeast Division. "I think it's good for us to have a break right now," he said. "I think that you will see that we will come back refreshed, not only physically but also mentally. Hopefully, this win will carry over." The Canadiens solved Shtalenkov on a power play with 5:22 left in the second period as Sergei Zholtok scored to the goaltender's stick side on a one-timer from the top right of the slot. But Bure got back the lead for the Panthers 83 seconds later, jamming in a pass by Kozlov just inside the right goalpost and past Theodore, who could not get his left pad over in time. Kozlov scored his 14th goal on a wrist shot with 6:43 left to seal it and give Ray Whitney his 300th NHL point. "We had a plan and the plan didn't work," Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault said of stopping Bure. "When he is like this it is very, very tough to stop him. You can take Bure, Jagr and (Anaheim's Paul) Kariya, they're all in a category by themselves right now." Starting for the eighth time in nine games, Theodore made 23 saves for the Canadiens, who were 5-1-2 in their previous eight contests. The Panthers defeated Montreal for the fifth time in the last six meetings. Shtalenkov made six saves in the first period, three in the second and seven in the third, including one with his left pad on a shot by Benoit Brunet from the left faceoff circle. "I thought we met a team tonight that really wanted to redeem itself after the loss to Carolina," Vigneault said. "I felt that we got off to a good start for the first 45 minutes, but Bure's next shift and then his goal really put us on our heels. From then on, I thought we were always a step behind and that we weren't skating or hitting." Shtalenkov is 3-0-1 in his last four games, all in the new year, but had not won at the National Car Rental Center since beating Nashville on December 15. The Panthers are 13-1-1 at home and 20-2-1 overall when leading after two periods. Montreal fell to 1-19-2 when trailing after two. The Canadiens have endured trouble in the state of Florida, going 8-13-5 all-time on trips against the Panthers and Tampa Bay, which they visit on Thursday. Pavel had 7 shots on goal, and was a plus three for the night.
Another loss, with no points Carolina Hurricanes scored 1:52 apart in the second period for a 4-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. For the first 19 minutes of the game, the Panthers' lone scoring chance was a two-on-none down low with Whitney and Pavel Bure, who did not earn a point in the game. Bure's first shot was stopped by Carolina goalie Arturs Irbe, and his rebound hit the crossbar-far post intersection. Pavel was held to five shots on goal, and a minus two for the game.
Pavel info in February issue of 'Ocean Drive' magazine
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Hmmm. That's pretty darn close, if you ask me. As a result, we need some sort of tie-breaker before we cast the important beer.com vote in one direction or another, and that tiebreaker is Anna Kournikova.
CP / Pavel and Valeri Bure celebrate an all-star goal by Pavel.
VLADIMIR BURE: resolves to call sons
